Counting Day
by oliviikate
Summary: Zim mysteriously leaves Earth one day. Dib, being Dib, chooses to follow. However, he finds himself at a high-security Irken event. Soon, the pair will cross paths, and the entire Irken empire will be rooting for their capture.
1. Learning About Tongues

"Now, you see class, the human tongue is a very interesting organ in the body. Like fingerprints, if you were to make a printing of your tongue, it would be completely unique. No one has the same tongue print as you."

Dib sighed, slouching in his seat. When he would ever need to use his new knowledge on the Human tongue in his future, he didn't know. However, he took the notes anyways. He glanced across the way at Zim, who rested his feet on his table, staring at the clock. His face cast an expression of boredom.

Human biology was a particularly boring class in Dib's opinion, although Zim seemed to find it rather interesting. He often asked questions, whether they were on the current subject in the class's curriculum or not. However, despite his constant curiousness in Human biology, even Zim appeared to find learning about the human tongue extremely boring.

"Now, I'm going to hand out your review." the teacher explained, "It's homework if you don't finish in class. Test tomorrow!"

Dib groaned and looked over his worksheet when he got it. On it was fifty questions about the human tongue. He groaned again.

"What's the date today?" a girl sitting near Dib asked as she filled out her name.

"The twenty-third," another boy answered.

Zim sat up so straight in his seat that he almost fell over, catching the attention of the entire class. He stood up abruptly and crossed the room. He stood over the boy who'd announced the date, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him close.

"What did you say?!"

"It's-it's the twenty-third," the boy stuttered, sweating nervously. Zim's eyes widened to the size of bowls, and he dropped the boy to the ground. He raised his hand straight up and into the air with a surprising urgency. When the teacher failed to notice, he stretched his hand higher, waving his 3-fingered hand around with an urgent grunt. The teacher, who sat at her desk, finally glanced up through her glasses without moving her head. She looked annoyed.

"Yes, Zim?" she asked.

"I need your permission to be excused from this wretched room in order to relieve my sudden and most dire urge for the Human facilities," Zim replied, practically dancing in his place. His foot tapped anxiously, and he crossed his arms with his fingers drumming on his bicep. He impatiently shifted his weight back and forth as he awaited a response.

The teacher looked him up and down, an expression of annoyance on her face. Her lips puckered before she let out a sigh and said; "Fine, go quickly, and come straight back."

Zim gave the teacher a military salute before zipping out of the room. Dib followed the alien with his eyes as he exited the class, resting his chin in his palm. When Zim exited, he turned left which was _not_ the way to the nearest bathroom.

Dib sat up. He looked out the classroom's window, waiting. Surely enough, after a moment, he spotted Zim running down the sidewalk in the direction of his base. This made Dib's mind run wild, his stomach tying in knots. What about that day's date would make Zim flee from the school with such urgency? Perhaps he had a new, deadly serum that needed weekly checking. Maybe his newest ray of death was set to go off in fifteen minutes. What if his newest Human experiment had been scheduled to show signs of having its first zombie-like characteristics today?

 _What is he up to?_ Dib wondered, his teeth clenching. This was his only thought now. It plagued his mind, and he knew it would if he stayed in school for the rest of the day. He couldn't stay there; He had the world to save!

Dib practically stood up he raised his hand with such a force, "Mrs. Trueheart? I'm not feeling so well. Could I go to the nurse's office?" he smiled innocently.

Mrs. Trueheart glanced up without moving her head again, distrust in her eyes. This was a common mannerism for her.

"Once Zim gets back," she replied, glancing back down.

Dib's stomach dropped. He needed to get out of school immediately! Zim wasn't coming back! There was no way he had simply gone to his base for a bathroom. Actually, Dib was fairly sure Zim didn't even need bathrooms in his life.

"But-I-I feel like I'm about to throw up!" Dib said. Mrs. Trueheart looked unconvinced. Dib looked around. He had the attention of the entire class.

Hesitating, he made his body lurch like he was about to be sick. Immediately, his classmates retreated to the side of the room opposite to Dib, as if a monster was about to come bursting out of Dib's mouth to kill them. Mrs. Trueheart was leaning back in her chair, looking appalled. Dib felt his face turn red.

"Fine, go to see the nurse." Mrs. Trueheart replied, "And bring your things with you…class is almost over."

Dib leapt up, swinging his backpack around his shoulder and holding his test review in his hand. He tried to exit the classroom in a manner that didn't say he was about to ditch school to prevent an alien from infiltrating the planet, but he could tell his fast pace was killing the vibe. Nervously, he slowed down and tried to walk casually until he exited the classroom.

Once Dib was out of the room, he darted down the hallway towards the nearest exit and out the school's metal doors. The crisp, cool air of late fall greeted him outside, kissing his cheeks. However, the sun made up for the cool day, creating a warm presence as fluffy clouds flew by overhead.

Dib bounded down the sidewalk, fall leaves crunching under his feet as he ran. He passed several people as he dashed down the sidewalk, and they watched him as he went by, confused expressions on their faces. He was going so fast that it seemed by the time they noticed he was there, he was already gone.

Dib ran until he wheezed, but he didn't stop there. He only stopped when Zim's base came into view, and he saw its purple roof splitting into two. Zim's voot ascended out from between the two parts of the split roof. As one might expect, Zim was inside, undisguised.

The voot turned around in place, and then quickly zoomed away into the sky. And then Zim was gone, disappeared into space to do who knows what.

Dib watched in awe for a moment, before running up to the abnormal, green house. The gnomes didn't try to stop him this time; thank goodness. He peeked through the window. GIR sat on the couch, intently watching a cartoon that was clearly aimed for the youngest of audiences.

Zim wouldn't leave his robot behind if the Earth were about to blow up. Why, Dib didn't know. It seemed as if Zim would get along just as fine, or perhaps even better, without his robot henchmen. But why Zim kept his broken-minded robot didn't matter, not at the moment. Dib knew he wasn't going to the alien grocery store to get eggs for his alien cake (quite frankly, Dib didn't even think that Zim ate cake). Zim was going somewhere, somewhere important! Somewhere evil! Dib had to find out where he was going and why he was going there. The fate of the Earth may have depended on it!

Dib turned from the peculiar alien base and began jogging again, this time in the direction of his own house.

When he reached his own home, Dib burst through the front door and straight into the kitchen. He tossed his backpack into the nearest corner and located the magnetic notepad on the fridge. Picking up a miscellaneous pen on the counter, he began to write;

 _Hi, Gaz. Zim is up to something. In space this time! It's up to me to stop whatever he's up to! There's leftover pizza in the fridge. – Dib_

Dib could hear her groan of annoyance already. He pinned it to the refrigerator, and stood back, staring at his note for a moment. He briefly thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea, but quickly decided he'd be fine. Gaz would be glad to have him out of her hair. Then, he exited the kitchen into the garage.

Tak's ship; it was sassy, and it hated having him as a pilot, judging from previous trips into space. Despite this, it still flew pretty well. He would just turn off its personality interface this time in hopes that it made the trip go easier.

Dib crawled into the cockpit, and swiped his hand along multiple screens, turning on the ship. Before he could get to turning off the personality interface systems, they booted up, and the grumpy ship greeted him.

"Oh, it's _you,_ " Tak's voice said in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah, hi." Dib rolled his eyes, "Zim mysteriously left the planet, probably to do evil stuff. Do you think you could follow him?"

"I can," the ship said.

Dib rolled his eyes again, "Will you?"

"Ugh, I suppose," the ship sighed. There was a moment of silence, "I've located his ship. Preparing to leave the planet in five…four…thr-"

"Wait!" Dib halted the countdown, "'I'm not ready!"

With that, he slid out of the ship, and made his way back into the kitchen. Picking up his backpack from the corner, he made his way up the stairs, skipping steps on his way. At the top, he ventured down the hall and into his room.

Dib emptied out the contents of his backpack onto his bed. He pondered what he might want to bring into space with them. After a moment of thinking, he pulled out a shoe box from under his bed and uncovered the lid. There was a water gun inside. He looked it over. It was small, but it held enough water to fend off an irken if need be. It was currently filled with water from the bird bath in the backyard (Dib had noticed over time that water straight from a natural source seemed to affect Zim better than water from the tap). He shoved the water gun in his bag.

Dib was in the process of leaving his room when he turned back. He reluctantly grabbed his laptop and his tongue review from earlier, shoving them into his bag, telling himself that they were for in case the trip was long.

He traversed back down to the kitchen and opened the pantry door. He scanned its inner contents for a moment before taking a family size bag of potato chips and a box of granola bars. He crossed the room to the fridge and slid the last five sodas into his bag, reminding himself that Gaz would kill him for it when he got home.

Slipping his bag around his shoulder, Dib ran back out to the garage, and climbed into the ship's cockpit, "Okay, I'm ready."

The ship let out a groan of annoyance, and started its liftoff, rising a few feet off the ground. It eased slowly out of the garage, seeming to be aware of all its surroundings. Once the boy and ship were out of the structure, the ship took a sharp turn and shot up towards the sky at an incredibly sharp angle. Dib was forced against the driver's seat, not even being able to let out a scream due to the suddenness of the situation.

Up and up the ship went. The force was almost too much to handle at first, but just as Dib felt as if he would pass out, the ship eased a bit. It slowed in speed and eased its angle, cruising.

The next thing Dib knew, there were stars everywhere. They speckled the space around him, bringing light to the inky blackness. Gaseous nebulas painted the void. Earth loomed behind him, spinning slowly. Its blue, green, and white colors swirled together. It was something Dib had seen before, but it still took his breath away every time.

As much as he wanted to, there was no time to sit and gawk at the beauty of space. Dib observed all the controls that the ship currently had running. He was particularly attracted to a small tab labeled "guide-ship info."

He didn't ask Tak's ship about this. Instead, he pressed on the tab with his finger. A list of information about Zim's voot cruiser came up. Dib read the information to himself;

Zim's ship type was a voot cruiser. His ship's number was FN2187. He was located in galaxy 99-B. He was currently cruising faster than light. He had autopilot turned on. And he had autopilot set to take him to….Dib gasped.

 _Irk._

 _((_ _ **A/N:**_ _Well, that marks the end of the first chapter. I'm not extremely excited about how I started things, but it has to start somewhere, y'know?_

 _I have lots of plans for this fanfic. Whether I go through with them or not, I guess we'll see. I've never written a chapter fic before, so I'm very nervous about how things will turn out, but I'm gonna stay determined._

 _ALSO, if you found the Star Wars reference then you get a gold star. Also, I named their teacher after Eric Trueheart, one of the writers on the show._ _I needed a name, and when I looked up a list of last names, Trueheart came up. I decided the list was telling me to make references._

 _Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this first chapter here. Thank you for reading, and have a fabulous day!))_


	2. A River Of Irkens

Zim couldn't believe he'd forgotten.

He couldn't get the Voot Cruiser to go any faster without it breaking down. But he pushed the Voot anyways. He couldn't be late. If he was late, then he would suffer the worst of consequences. The thought of it made his squeedlyspooch turn over.

Zim let out a sigh of relief as he saw the familiar pink planet come into view.

Irk.

He would have a little time to spare once he arrived. He put his feelings of worry aside and looked at the planet looming before him in the near distance.

His squeedlyspooch felt warm when he saw it. He'd been working on Earth for quite some time at this point, and it was making him feel further and further away from the familiarity of his home-planet all the time. He'd lately had a constant longing to leave Earth and return home. It was a sinking feeling that Zim would never admit he'd ever felt, even to himself. He couldn't let inferior feelings interfere with his mission.

Insides overflowing with joy, Zim neared the planet. Hundreds of aircrafts, most of them bigger than his own, also flew towards the planet, creating a sea of ships, all of them flying in the same direction. Traffic around Irk was much busier than normal, but that was to be expected on this particular day.

The planet was enclosed in a bubble, which was multiple shades of pink throughout. When Zim saw the bubble, he recognized the way the colors moved. It was much like the chemicals in that of an Earth bubble, the shades of pink slipping and sliding around each other.

Zim's voot drifted through the bubble with no trouble, as expected. He neared the ground, taking in the familiar sights of his home. A river of Irkens flowed down the street, all of them heading in the same direction.

Landing at the end of a row of ships, Zim slid out of the Voot. He immediately joined the flow of traffic, disappearing into an ocean of green faces.

Eventually, the river broke into separate lines, each of them ending at a table. At each table sat an irken, who had a computer laid out in front of them. Zim chatted with an Irken in front of him about his mission on Earth to help the time pass. They never said anything back. However, Zim knew this was because they were so amazed by his tales.

Zim reached the front of the line after cutting multiple times. He was greeted by a female Irken, who gave him an annoyed expression.

"State your name and number," she said flatly.

"Surely you know who Zim is!" Zim stood as tall as possible, his hand placed over his chest proudly.

The female Irken looked him up and down again, "No."

Zim grumbled, "I suppose I can give you a reminder. I am Zim! An important invader in the Irken military! The Tallest entrusted me with a secret mission!"

"Okay," she stared blankly at him, "number?" she asked again.

"2F5L-5XG."

The female Irken typed on her computer for a moment, and then her eyes scanned the screen.

"Okay, you're free to proceed." she waved him along.

Zim marched past, following a crowd of Irkens into a large, metal dome.

* * *

A pink planet loomed in the distance. Dib stared at it.

He knew it was his destination when Tak's ship failed to steer clear of it.

So this was Irk.

This was the planet that his greatest enemy had come from. He felt a mixture of excitement and fear.

Dib soon realized that there were hundreds of ships flying all around him. He was surrounded by countless other members of the irken race. He felt exposed upon realizing that he was now the alien, surrounded by countless Irkens traveling to their home planet. He would need to blend in.

Dib opened a compartment in the ship that was much like a glove box you might find in a car. Inside were several blueprints, and a small tube with little plates on the ends. Dib picked it up and examined it.

"What is this?" Dib asked the ship.

"It's a holographic disguise. One of Tak's prototypes," the ship replied.

"Could it disguise me?" Dib asked, observing it in his palm.

"Yeah, I guess."

"How do I do it?"

The ship was silent for a moment.

"Are you seriously about to trespass onto one of the most high-security alien planets in the galaxy?" it asked.

Dib took a moment to answer, "Yes."

"That's a foolish idea. They'll find you. An idiot like you won't make it two minutes."

"I have to! I have to find out what Zi-"

"More like you _want_ to. There's nothing here for an inferior piece of alien scum like you. I should send a message to the Irken military right now."

The ship clearly didn't understand that this situation could end in life or death for Earth. He _needed_ to find out what Zim was doing on Irk. He sighed, "Would you just tell me how to put this thing on?"

"Fine. Attach one end to your temple, the other to the back of your head."

Dib did as he was instructed. Nothing happened.

"Hey, you said-" he began, but the ship interrupted him.

"You're stupid. Turn the tube to the right." the ship instructed in an annoyed tone.

Dib turned the tube to the right as told.

Immediately, Dib saw his outfit change out of the corner of his eye. He looked down. He wore an outfit identical to the one Zim wore each day. Black boots, black pants, black gloves, pink tunic.

He felt the top of his head. He could still feel his hair. Confused, he looked in the window at his reflection. However, he didn't see his usual black hair. Instead, two long, black antennae grew out of his head. His skin was a pale green, and his eyes lacked pupils, being solidly a caramel brown. He looked like an irken, although only a hologram of one. He gawked at his reflection for a moment, but was quickly distracted by the planet looming before him.

Dib immediately found he was about to run right into some sort of shield. Shades of pink swirled all around like the chemicals in that of a soap bubble. Dib yelled, trying to get the ship to halt, but the ship went straight through the shield with no trouble.

Dib looked back at the shield through the window. He could see through it, but he hadn't been able to when looking inside from outside. It was daytime on that side of the planet, but the sun was further away than Dib was used to. There were some stars that were close enough to the planet to be seen in the daylight. They shimmered brightly, turned a tint of pink by the strange shield Dib had passed through.

Dib faced forward in his seat, and his mouth immediately fell open as he looked down upon planet Irk.

The entire planet below him was entirely metal, not a sign of natural land in sight. He passed by and over countless metal buildings, each of them spherical, cone, or cylinder-like in shape. Some of the buildings even had elegant metal spirals wrapping around the outside. In the distance, smoke stacks rose high into the sky although the air was clear of pollution. In fact, Dib could see for miles in every direction.

Everything was pink, purple, or red. It seemed that everywhere Dib looked there was some variation of pink. Even the air was tinted pink due to the shield. Distant buildings on the horizon appeared to melt into a pink haze. Irkens seemed to be obsessed with the color. It was everywhere.

But there was one space that lacked pink, and Dib flew right over it. The ship dipped toward the ground, and Dib saw what this was.

Countless Irkens all traveled down a street. The all headed in the same direction, creating a river of green bodies. Dib watched them as he flew overhead. It appeared to be never ending. A never ending river of Irkens. Dib felt that he might faint.

After a minute, the ship landed alongside several others.

"I'm warning you. You'll be shot dead within minutes," the ship told him as he prepared to exit the vessel.

Dib took a deep breath, and ignored the ship, telling himself that this was for the good of the Earth. He slipped his backpack over his shoulder. It disappeared under the hologram disguise.

The ship let him out, and he hopped to the ground. His feet made a thudding sound upon contact with the metal. He allowed the ship to power down itself.

The moment he stepped out of the ship, he regretted it. He'd completely forgotten he was standing on an alien planet, suddenly realizing that the air may have been unbreathable. He held his breath and turned back to the ship. He pounded on the windshield, hoping that the ship would let him back in. It ignored him, and nothing happened. He pounded harder, beginning to feel light-headed. After about thirty seconds of pounding, Dib's body forced him to take a breath. The air felt normal. Dib was embarrassed as several Irkens gave him strange looks.

He decided to follow the flow of Irkens he'd seen earlier, deciding Zim was most likely to be there. He dusted himself off and tried his best to copy Zim's military march he'd seen so much of on Earth. However, as he marched, Dib noticed he was attracting more looks of disapproval. He walked normally, and the Irkens diverted their attention.

As Dib made his way towards the Irken crowd, he noticed that the planet was just as amazing on the ground as it was the air. The skyscrapers were so tall, he couldn't even locate the tops. The pinkish rays of sun danced around, making everything twice as shiny. Ships zoomed by overhead, and Dib watched them as they went by.

The next thing Dib knew, he was walking in the Irken river. As they passed smaller streets, less thick crowds of Irkens joined the larger group. Some joined individually. It seemed as if every Irken on the planet was there.

Everywhere Dib looked there where green faces. The crowd was so thick that Dib was being forced along. With so many Irkens around him and so many more flying by overhead, he felt overwhelmed. He hoped he would be able to find Zim in the crowd and maybe follow him to wherever it was that caused him to leave school so suddenly.

However, it was impossible for Dib to make out even one face in the crowd. Not that he'd met many Irkens to recognize. It was just that everyone was moving so fast, he wasn't able to distinguish one face from another.

Before Dib could make a plan to find Zim amongst the crowd, he found the Irkens splitting. They separated into lines, seeming to be choosing at random. Dib chose the line nearest to him, and waited with his hands behind his back, staring at the ground in hopes of preventing attention from being drawn to himself. This stance earned him looks of disgust from the other. He stopped and tried to stand like them; facing forward with his back straight.

After a while of shuffling forward rather slowly, Dib found himself standing before an Irken at a table. She had a computer laid out before her. She looked bored.

"State your name and number."

Dib felt his stomach twist. Name and number? He didn't have one of those. He decided to go with his first idea,

"I-I'm Dib!" he said with a nervous grin.

"And…your number?" the irken asked.

Dib remained quiet for a minute, searching his brain for something to say. The Irken who'd asked for his number rubbed her temples, mumbling something about "getting all the stupid ones."

"I…don't know what my number is," Dib finally said nervously. He immediately regretted saying it.

"What do you mean?" the Irken leaned forward.

"I guess I…don't have one?" Dib clenched his fists, scolding himself mentally.

"Uh-huh." The Irken looked him up and down, her mouth curling into a frown. She typed on her computer for a moment, "Well, it seems that Irken Dib has already signed in."

"Well, that's, uh…" Dib trailed off, "the _other_ Irken Dib! Yeah…" he smiled.

The Irken shook her head. She typed on the computer some more, and a small tablet emerged from a panel on the side. She picked it up and read it over, and then turned in her chair. Behind her was the entrance to a large metal dome, and tall walls lined the path leading up to it. What looked like Irken guards were standing along said walls. She waved one over. Dib froze in his place.

When the guard arrived, the Irken who'd asked for Dib's name handed him the tablet. He read it over with a nod and waved Dib along. Dib followed slowly, the warning Tak's ship had given him only minutes ago replaying in his head. The guard didn't speak to him.

Dib was lead into the big dome. When he got inside, he found that it was much bigger than he'd initially thought.

Thousands, maybe millions of Irkens all stood in military fashion, single file lines under the dome's roof. They each had their arms behind their backs and their feet spread evenly apart. Their antennae were laid gently against their scalp. Neutral expressions were on their faces. Machines that looked like cameras flew by overhead, emitting a mechanical humming noise as they passed.

Dib followed the guard along the inner wall of the dome. The guard stopped and pointed to a white dot marked on the floor. Dib followed directions, standing on the white spot, and mimicked what the other Irkens in line were doing. The guard casually stood against the wall, seeming to be pleased with him.

Dib looked around, and he could tell that his expression was awestruck, which he quickly fixed. Irkens in strange lab coats maneuvered through the crowd with tablets. Guards were everywhere, leaving no space unsupervised. Irkens in standard uniforms chatted and found their places. New questions besides why Zim had left Earth so suddenly came to the front of Dib's mind. Questions such as; what was going on here? Surely this wasn't a normal day on Irk, was it?

The building filled up quickly, and after a matter of minutes the entrance Dib had entered through with the guard was shut tightly. The room went dark except for a brightly lit stage at the front. Dib looked around him. Every white spot in the room had been filled, and he was surrounded by Irkens. Not one Irken was without a spot to stand on except the guard who had escorted Dib to one. He eyed Dib suspiciously. Dib observed everyone's straight up, hands clasped stances again. He mimicked them. Then, he fit in almost perfectly with the crowd, despite the fact that his spot was randomly placed along the wall, not in suit with the perfectly lined up dots the other Irkens stood on.

Everyone seemed to be watching the stage at the front of the room. Dib did so as well. After a moment, two Irkens who were much taller than the others made their way out onto the stage, the two of them entering from separate sides. They waved to the crowd. The room was loud with cheers of approval. Dib recognized them.

These Irkens were Zim's leaders.

* * *

 _((_ _ **A/N:**_ _Howdy! That's it for this chapter_

 _Once I got past some difficulties, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I'm fairly proud of how it came out. I'm not sure if you could tell, but I got real into describing Irk and how I think it looks. Writing Dib as the clueless alien visitor was a lot of fun, as well._

 _I'm not too sure about how I feel about switching between Zim and Dib in the middle of chapters. It's something I want to avoid for this fic, but this chapter would have been too short without it. There may be more of it in the future, but I'm still unsure. Just a heads up._

 _I wanted to thank everyone for the positivity on the first chapter, as well. It was really nice to see people interested in the story right off the bat._ _Thanks a ton!_

 _ALSO! There's a Steven Universe reference in this chapter! If you can spot it, then you get a gold star._

 _Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you for reading, and have a great day!))_


	3. Two Different Dibs

The Almighty Tallest.

Dib had met them once before, although he'd never gotten their names. In fact, when he'd met them, they hadn't said a single word directly to him. They'd only loudly insulted his head.

Although he'd never learned their names, telling them apart was simple. One had light purple eyes, with his robes matching in color. The other had bright red eyes, and his robes matched that color.

The Tallest stood at the front of the stage as the Irken crowd cheered for them. After a moment, the red one held his hands up to request silence. The room immediately went quiet enough so that one might hear a pin drop.

"Welcome, everybody, to the Counting Day!" the purple one said, making jazz hands. The crowd cheered again. Once everyone settled down, the red one moved forward to speak.

"As you all know, this is the most high-security event we have to offer!"

The purple one interrupted, "Yeah! So if any of you guys out there are spies, then you'll be obliterated by the end of the process!" he explained excitedly. The crowd cheered again. Dib felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"You should also know that this event is for making sure the number of you out there matches up exactly with the number that the control brains have set in their system!" Red explained.

"We're also gonna find out which of you guys are alien impostors! Because once we erase all you guys from existence, the number of real Irkens out there should match the number in the systems! Yeah!"

"Yeah! There's been too many lower than life aliens trying to spy on our progress lately, so, as long as you've got nothing to hide, then you should be good."

"Yeah, good." Purple smiled. "Unless you're defective! Because we'll kill you guys, too."

The crowd went ecstatic. Dib shrank in his spot. He was at what seemed to be some kind of irken census, even though the Tallest already seemed to be extremely confident what number they'd get in the end. It seemed that the holiday was simply a tool for ruling out which Irkens were spies and which weren't. Who they could trust and who they couldn't. Who was useful and who wasn't. Dib could only guess what would happen if they found out there was an extra Irken in the crowd.

Dib shook his head, leaving his thoughts and tuning back into what the Tallest had to say.

"Alright, I think we've scared anyone who might be spying enough for now." Red clasped his hands together.

"Yeah, alright!" Purple chimed, "Everyone report to their first station, and let's eliminate those impostors!

The crowd cheered one final time, and then everyone left their spot. Big doors lined the walls of the dome they were under, and Irkens seemed to be locating a specific one they were supposed to go to. The hallways were labeled by writing above the doors, and the Irkens appeared to be choosing where to go based off of what they read.

Dib's first instinct was to get out of there. He looked towards the big entrance he'd entered the dome from. But it was tightly shut. He would have to choose a hallway. Even though it risked his own death, learning about the event intrigued Dib. He had to admit, he was almost excited.

Dib was choosing between the two busiest looking hallways when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come with me," A voice said. It was the guard who'd escorted him to his spot.

Dib did as he was told, following the guard. However, he wasn't escorted down one of the many hallways. Instead, the guard led him to a small room. He held the door open for Dib to go inside. Once Dib was inside, the guard shut the door, leaving Dib alone inside. He heard the door lock. He panicked for a moment, beating on the door in fear that he'd been led into some sort of gas chamber. He stopped after a moment, realizing that he stood in a normal room.

The walls and floor were bare, and a deep color of fuschia. A table with three chairs sat in the middle of the room. Dib took a seat.

Dib was alone in the room for a long time. He even got up a few times and tried to open the door again, but it still failed to do as he'd hoped.

Dib was nodding off from boredom when the door finally opened. Two Irkens entered the room. One of them sat next to Dib. He looked beyond annoyed. The other Irken pulled the third chair around the table and sat across from them. This Irken was wearing a lab coat and carried an electronic tablet. She looked at it for a minute and heaved a sigh.

"Hi," she said. Her voice was nasal, "My name is Vii. I'm going to be handling this situation we've got going on here."

Dib was confused, "What situation?"

Vii was silent for a moment, working on her tablet, "Both of you two are claiming to be the real Irken Dib."

"I'm the real Dib." Irken Dib said, crossing his arms. He shot a glare at Human Dib. He had brown eyes as well, although they were darker than Human Dib's eyes. He was a few inches shorter than human Dib. his skin was a rather dark shade of green. Olive green, to be precise.

"Yes, well," Vii said, swiping her finger across her tablet, "due to security reasons we need proof."

"Why can't…" Dib wasn't sure if he should ask why they couldn't share the same name, "Never mind." he decided against it.

Things were silent for a moment.

"I'm the real Irken Dib, you know," Human Dib said. He had to at least try to claim the name Dib on Irk. He had to get out of there alive. If his cover was blown, there was no telling what might happen to him.

"Either of you could be the confused defective. Until I have proof, I'm not allowed to side with either of you." Vii said in a bored tone, still distracted by her tablet.

After that, the three of them sat in silence for a long time. Vii played on her tablet the whole time, seeming to be sorting through information. Occasionally, she would let out a stressed sigh. Finally, she laid the tablet out in front of her and spoke.

"Now, I have irken Dib's information pulled up here. I'm going to ask some questions."

"I don't have time for this!" Irken Dib stood up, "He's the impostor! I'm Dib!"

"Sir, I-"

"I shouldn't have to sit here and be treated like a defective!"

"Sir, I'm sorry." Vii spoke calmly, "I can assure you that this is only for security reasons. I'm not calling anyone a defective yet. If you answer these questions correctly, then you will get through the Counting Day process efficiently."

Irken Dib sat down with a harrumph. Vii looked down to her tablet at Irken Dib's information.

"Okay," she said, "Irken Dib, what is your occupation?"

"Uh, occupational therapist?" Dib guessed quickly. Both Irkens looked at him like he was insane.

"This imposter doesn't know what he's talking about," Irken Dib scoffed, "I'm a technological drone."

"Okay," Vii marked something down on her tablet, "Irken Dib, where are you stationed for your job?"

"I've recently been relocated to the new parking structures on planet Blorch," Irken Dib said proudly, "I'm installing the light bulbs."

Vii looked to Dib. He searched his mind for something to say. He recalled his knowledge on the planet Vort. It was the only other planet he knew about besides Irk.

"I'm stationed…on planet Vort. I help the prisoners there….feel better."

The two Irkens looked disgusted. Dib rubbed his pants nervously.

"Okay…" Vii typed on her tablet for a moment. "Dib…What is your irken number?"

"5D8J-2FA," Irken Dib said.

Human Dib looked back and forth between the two, "What he said," he murmured, mentally slapping himself.

"Okay, one more question." Vii swiped up and down her tablet, reading over Irken Dib's information, "Irken Dib, what type of training did you receive during your time in the level one academy?"

"Technological drone training!" Dib blurted out confidently. The two Irkens gave him a strange look.

"Standard soldier training," Irken Dib informed. He turned to human Dib with a suspicious look, "Just like everybody else."

Human Dib gulped. A trick question. He feared he'd just given his identity away.

Vii sat on her tablet for a minute. She seemed to be logging information.

"Okay," she said, "both of you line up against that wall there."

The two Dib's followed directions. Vii stood up and walked over to them. She pulled a strange looking device out of her pocket. She stood back, turning it on. Red numbers shone on the wall next to Dib. They looked like that of a ruler. She was measuring the two of them. She pushed a button on the device, and it hovered in place while she got closer to the two Dib's. She touched the wall just over the top of Irken Dib's head, and then took notes on her tablet. She shuffled over to human Dib and did the same. However, when she went to touch the wall over human Dib's head, Dib felt her slightly brush his hair with her hand. She immediately removed her hand and took notes. She turned to irken Dib.

"Okay, our test results have shown you are currently the holder of the name Dib," Vii said, gesturing to Irken Dib, "You're free to leave for the rest of the process. Take this ticket," she pulled a small, pink ticket out of the side of her tablet, "and give it to the Irken running your station. They'll help you catch up to the other technological drones. Happy Counting Day!" she gave him a big smile.

"Finally," Irken Dib sighed, snatching the ticket from Vii's hand. He turned to human Dib, "This better not happen again, you insane defective." he turned on his heel and stomped out of the room.

Vii didn't address Human Dib after that. Instead, she immediately left the room, locking the door behind her. Dib put an ear against the door and listened. She was talking to someone.

"His knowledge about the empire is slim…and some… _characteristics_ I observed show that he is not of Irken origin. I suspect he's an impostor. However, he may just be suffering from some sort of mental illness. Either way, only a Control Brain can decide. Brain six is handling these types of cases. Take him there; don't let him out of your sight."

Dib heard quick footsteps getting quieter as they got further and further from his little room. After a moment, the door slid open. Dib stumbled forward, collapsing into an irken guard's gut. The guard didn't even flinch.

"Come with me, defective," the guard ordered, and Dib was lead off once again.

It seemed Dib's fate had already been sealed. Apparently, these "Control Brains" just had to make it official.

* * *

 _((_ _ **A/N:**_ _Hey guys! That's it for now._

 _This was another fun chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it, especially when it came to writing Irken Dib as such a grouch. He has no chill._

 _I'm…not sure how often I'd like to update this story. For some reason…I have a lot of projects and stuff going on at the moment, so when I do have time to write, all my creativity is already drained. Hopefully, as summer comes along I'll have more time to write. Because when I have all that time free, I'll be working on this fic like it's my JOB. I would really like to keep this updating regularly. Having deadlines definitely keeps me going._

 _Also, I hate to ask, but I really appreciate reviews. They keep the motivation flowing, y'know? I just don't wanna seem like I'm seeking attention, but they really help._ _So it would really make my day if you could leave a review. Constructive criticism is great, too._

 _Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading, and have fabulous day!))_


	4. Zim the Amazing Invader

"Everyone report to their station, and let's eliminate those imposters!" Tallest Purple exclaimed.

A roar of excitement filled the room. Zim managed to yell twice as loud as everyone around him, which earned him some looks that he failed to notice.

Immediately, the neat rows of Irkens fell out of formation, and the inside of the dome was a madhouse of Irkens trying to find their way to their station. Many of them met with acquaintances, chatting as they moved along. Some of them stood in place, trying to locate where it was they were supposed to be going. It was maddening to Zim, and he pushed right through everyone that got in his way.

After searching through the crowd for a while, Zim found a door marked "invaders." He marched towards it and scanned his hand on a scanner along the wall next to the door. He was stopped when the door didn't open. Zim pounded hard on the door, expecting something to happen. Nothing. He let out a groan in frustration, looking around for a way to solve his problem.

A group of invaders walked up, talking amongst each other. Zim turned to them in confusion.

"Why isn't the door opening?" he asked.

"There've just been some…difficulties in the system," one of them, Invader Flowbee, informed him, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smirk. He scanned his own hand on the door and it slid open, allowing the group to enter. They did so with a sense of authority.

The invaders snickered as Zim followed them through the door's entrance. Zim felt happy that the invaders accepted him so fast. He'd never gotten to meet with them before, not since the Great Assigning. They'd had get-togethers before, but Zim had never been invited. Although he knew that this was only because The Tallest had known how busy he was at the time.

The group found themselves in a big room, where many other invaders already stood around. At the corner of the room was a tall, gray door. White lights hung from the ceiling, making the room uncomfortably bright. The walls were a faint shade of pink. Several chairs and tables were scatted throughout the room, other invaders beginning to take advantage of them.

The invaders stood around, chatting amongst themselves as they waited to be counted. Each group had a scientist assigned to them who would count the number of Irkens who claimed to be assigned to a job. However, they already had an estimation in the system for each group, and there was minimal chance of any calculation errors. Zim joined a particularly large group of invaders. When he arrived, silence erupted amongst the group, and they all stared at him. Zim stared back in confusion. After a moment, he chuckled.

"Yes, yes, do bask in the glorious presence of Zim!" Zim exclaimed, enjoying the attention. There was a snort from the back of the group.

Zim was about to continue when two scientists entered the room, both of them busy as they tapped away on their tablets. After a moment, one of them glanced up.

"I need everyone to form a single file line," he ordered.

The invaders did as instructed, forming a straight line. Each invader was sure to stand an equal distance away from the other, their posture straight and their hands behind their backs.

Immediately, the scientist started at the front of the line, counting the number of invaders. He mumbled numbers as he passed. The second scientist started down the line after him, handing out small buzzers to each invader.

After the scientists got through the line, they stood at the end together. Zim watched them from his spot in the back of the line. They looked beyond confused, shifting their gaze between each other and their tablet screens. They talked lowly and quietly so that no one else could hear. Then, one of them crossed the room to the big door and disappeared through it. After a minute, he returned and joined the other scientist once more.

"Alright," the scientist announced, "Your buzzers will go off when the Control Brain is ready to evaluate you."

The line fell apart, and the invaders joined their friends to chat as they waited to be evaluated. Zim was looking to go join a group and tell them about his adventures on Earth when he overheard the scientists talking,

"This makes no sense. Our estimations shouldn't be off!" one of them said, panic in his voice.

"There was a mistake," the other explained.

"But there can't have been!"

"The Control Brain will fix it."

A communicator went off at one of their sides. One of the scientists removed it from their pocket read the screen.

"That was the guy down with the food service drones…they're missing someone."

"Maybe they're here."

"If they are, the Control Brain will deem them defective."

The other scientist laughed, "Whatever, as long as the numbers are right."

Zim chuckled. He felt pity for the stupid Irken who failed to show to the right station. The Control Brain would declare them defective immediately. He couldn't imagine how it would feel to be the hopeless malfunctioning Irken who'd made such a simple mistake.

Slowly, the room began to clear out. An invader would be listening to Zim tell a story about his adventures on Earth when their buzzer would go off. They would let out a loud sigh of relief, and hurry away and through the big metal door. Zim couldn't believe how overwhelmed the other invaders were around him. He knew he was a great invader, but the invaders were exceptionally giddy in Zim's presence. It led to good feelings within Zim's squeedlyspooch. Despite all the constant fallbacks on Earth due to Dib, the other invaders still seemed to view him as amazing.

Zim was the last invader to be called to see the Control Brain. He'd been alone in the room for a long time, the scientists eyeing him with suspicion. When his buzzer finally went off at his side, he stood up straight, crossing the room to the metal door. Next to it was a small bin full of buzzers that had presumably been the ones assigned to the other invaders. Zim dropped his buzzer inside. It stopped buzzing, and the door before him opened almost immediately. Zim stepped into the next room, and the door shut tightly behind him.

Zim stood in a nearly pitch black room. He couldn't see any of the walls. The only sources of light were a small path lined with faint, purple lights in which were too small to make a difference to the darkness, and a spotlight on a large stage at the end of said path. Under the spotlight was one of the biggest of the Irken Control Brains. She stared at Zim, a hard look in her eyes. A scientist stood next to her, tapping away on his tablet just like the rest of them.

There was an ominous tone to the room that made Zim feel small. Despite this, he stood tall and marched triumphantly down the marked path without hesitation. The scientist glanced up at him with a timid smile. Zim found his politeness pathetic.

The Control Brain didn't say anything to Zim. She towered over the little Irken, staring down at him as he looked back up at her with a radiant expression. Two long wires emerged from her sides and attached themselves to Zim's PAK. She was silent as she rummaged through Zim's files, and after a moment a screen beside her lit up with lines of information about Zim. She had a sinister look on her face, but it only got more menacing the longer she had herself connected to Zim's mechanical mind.

"Why are you here?" she asked. Her voice suggested that she was feeling extremely irritated. The scientist at her side looked to Zim in confusion.

"What is it that you mean?" Zim asked.

"Your PAK," she uttered, "It tells me that you're a food service drone."

"Impossible! Zim is most certainly the most skilled of the invaders, surely the Tallest have told you all about me!" Zim argued.

The Control Brain took a moment to answer, "No," she replied slowly.

Zim didn't respond, being that he was in confusion. The Tallest were to inform the Control Brains on all of the invader's progress. He put the subject aside, assuring himself that they must have been very busy.

"You're the extra Irken the scientists manning your station told me about." the Control Brain looked to her scientist, who shrugged, hiding behind his tablet.

"I'm not a food service drone!" Zim clenched his fists with intensity in his eyes, "Zim is an invader!"

"Your PAK tells me otherwise."

"Then there was a mistake!" Zim yelled up at her, a burning frustration brewing in the bottom of his squeedlyspooch.

"There are no mistakes in the Irken Empire." she glared down at him, "Why did you attempt to be counted along with the invaders?"

"BECAUSE I _AM_ AN INVADER!" Zim explained, his voice dragging into a whine.

The Control Brain stared down at him for a long time, "He's defective." she informed her scientist, "Send for the guards to come get him and put him with the others."

The scientist gave a nervous thumbs up with a grin and pressed a button on his tablet. Zim stared blankly up at the control brain, distorting her words in his head. He refused to hear himself being called a lowlife defective. It wasn't true! It couldn't be true! Zim was normal. The Control Brain was simply giving him front row seats to the elimination of defectives.

"An escort to the final ceremony?" Zim asked.

The Control Brain's eyes narrowed into slits, "You could say that."

Zim grinned, twiddling his thumbs as a wave of relief flooded his innards. He knew that he was better than just some malfunctioning idiot.

He waited in silence with the company of the Control Brain and her scientist, who continued to tap buttons on his tablet. After a short while, two guards entered the room through a door behind the Control Brain. Light flooded the room from the outside hallway, hurting Zim's eyes.

The guards took Zim by the wrists, aggressively pulling him to his feet.

"Let's go." The one at the right said. And with that, the three exited the room, the Control Brain watching them as the door slid shut behind them.

* * *

 _((_ _ **A/N**_ _: Hey guys! That's it for this chapter._

 _Sorry it's been a few weeks. First, I had some major writers block with this chapter. Luckily, my friend Amanda was able to help me out and work through some plot issues. So at least I can be semi-pleased with this chapter :) School has been keeping me pretty busy as well, so I haven't had much time or motivation for writing._

 _It kinda sucks that the first entire chapter following Zim caused me so much trouble. Zim is my absolute favorite character, so I was hoping to have a lot more fun writing with him. Oh well, There'll be plenty of chapters following Zim in the future. Those should be lots of fun!_

 _Anyways, thank you so much for reading! Once again, I apologize for not updating as often as I'd originally hoped. Despite all that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Have a great day!))_


	5. Dib and the Control Brain

The guard disappeared behind a door. Dib looked down at his cuffed hands, trying to move his wrists away from each other with failure. The cuffs were electric, appearing to be some sort of plasma. However, they were indeed just as convenient as metal cuffs.

He let his shoulders go limp with a groan as he looked down the hallway. It was long, lined with doors on both walls. Lights hung on cables from the ceiling, although the hallway was still fairly dim.

An Irken would come out of one of the doors every few minutes or so. Some of them passed by Dib on their way down the hall. They would glance over at him, humor in their eyes. Some of them even smirked at the sight of him. It didn't take long before Dib decided he was indeed in very big trouble.

Scientists stood in small groups throughout the hallway, their heads close together as they poked their tablets and discussed information they had gathered. None of them seemed to give Dib a second thought if they came to notice him standing at the side of the hallway.

He considered running for it. Looking in both directions, Dib found that the hallway was clear. He took a step forward and was about to make a break for it when he heard the door open behind him.

Dib jerked forward, attempting to get away, but was stopped abruptly when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Not so fast," said a guard. Dib was pretty sure it was the one that had escorted him to the place, "Come on." he said. The guard pulled him through the door he'd been waiting outside of.

When Dib was inside, the guard quickly disappeared back behind the door, and Dib found himself left in a dark room. He held up his cuffed hands in an attempt to look at them through the darkness, but they were not visible. Looking past his hands, a spotlight turned on. Under it was a great, big, purple creature that looked similar to the human brain, but with eyes. It had big, long cables coming out of its sides. Its gaze landed on Dib, its eyes narrowing into a glare. It seemed to be waiting for something. Dib looked around awkwardly.

"What are you waiting for?!" it asked. Its voice sounded male.

Dib was startled, and took a step back. He looked to his left, and then to his right. Of course, it was dark, so he saw nobody there. He looked back to the brain before him and pointed to himself, asking if the brain was addressing him. He could tell that the fear was radiating off his body.

"Yes!" the brain said impatiently, "Come forward!"

Dib stepped forward slowly, making his way towards the brain. The boy found himself surrounded by darkness. He didn't understand how the light from the spotlight was only illuminating the brain. It added an ominous tone to the room. Dib guessed this was intentional.

The boy soon found that the room was very long. It took him a while to traverse across to meet the brain. The brain's eyes followed him along his way. As Dib got closer, a second figure came into view; another one of the Irken scientists. This particular one was seemed very well-mannered, with her hands behind her back. Her eyes squinted so hard they were merely little slits. Her lips were curled into a grumpy looking frown.

Two impatient beings staring down at him in a dark room. Dib guessed this might end very badly if he wasn't careful.

When the boy reached the brain and the scientist, he stood still, keeping a fairly good distance away. He assumed getting too close might be disrespectful. He stood tall, like the Irkens seemed to do often, and tried to put his hands behind his back. The handcuffs made this difficult, however, and he instead let his cuffed hands fall as naturally as possible in front of him. He made his face into a neutral expression, although he could tell there was an obvious hint of nervousness to his face.

The brain stared down at him for a long time, "So," he began, "The guard who escorted you here has informed me of your struggle to get through today's process."

"Yeah!" Dib blurted, "It's been a pretty big inconvenience. I mean, why can't we just share names, me and the other Dib? It's pretty stupid if you ask me." Dib caught himself, 'I mean, yeah. It's been…a long day."

The scientist's eyes narrowed. The brain simply stared down at him, his expression unchanging. Dib felt himself shrink. He gulped

"Let's get your PAK evaluated." the brain suggested, "No?"

Dib went rigid. He didn't actually _have_ a PAK. Only an Earth backpack and a hologram.

"N-nah." he shrugged, "I'll…pass on that."

The brain took a moment to answer, "Then we'll have to automatically deem you defective."

Dib paused. He couldn't be labeled defective! He couldn't even begin to imagine what happened to an Irken who was considered a defective. A mistake. A screw-up.

"Never mind then!" Dib let out a deep breath. He turned around and let the brain look at his holographic PAK.

The brain's eyes narrowed again, and two long wires slid from his sides. They snaked along the ground, lifting when they reached Dib's backside. They rose to where his PAK would be if he were Irken, and tried to plug themselves into the pink dots with no prevail. They attempted to attach to Dib once more with failure. Another try. Nothing.

"I cannot connect to his PAK…" the brain mumbled. He tried again, harder this time. Nothing happened. The brain tried to connect to Dib's non-existent PAK one more time, and the force of the wires attempting to connect to the imaginary brain was so great that Dib was sent to the ground.

Dib sat on his hands and knees, glaring up at the brain with defiance. He didn't even think at the time how that might affect the brain's thoughts on him. The brain stared down at him, his eyes growing cold.

 _"Stand up,"_ the brain said lowly. Dib followed directions quickly, wondering if he'd made a mistake. He _had_ just mentally cussed at the actions of a supreme alien computer who could determine whether he lived or died.

The brain continued to stare down at Dib. The disguised human felt small gazing up at the brain as his eyes seemed to bore into his soul.

The two stared at each other for a long time. Dib encountered a few moments where he wanted to tear his eyes away, but refused to allow himself. He wasn't about to blow his cover by being unable to stare at some alien computer for a while. Dib stared at computers back on Earth all the time. He told himself that this was just the same.

"He's defective," the brain finally said, "Call the guards, immediately," the brain demanded. The scientist at his side pressed a button on her tablet with a smug smile.

"No!" Dib tried to protest. The brain's eyes remained stern. Things were falling apart faster than he would've liked. The brain wasn't going to change his mind. Dib knew he had to get out of there.

The human boy tried to run, knowing that it was most likely the only way he would escape whatever fate the brain had just given him. He ran back in the direction of the door he'd entered the room from and heard the brain shouting at him to stop from behind. Of course, he didn't listen.

When Dib reached the door, he ran right into it, as he couldn't see. He yelped in pain as he crumpled to the ground. He stood himself up and tried to find some sort of doorknob. However, he found none. Having two cuffed hands made navigating a wall difficult. He began to pound on the door and didn't stop he was forced to by two Irken guards. They grabbed him by the shoulders from behind and dragged him back across the room.

Dib was pulled through a second door that had been several feet behind the brain. The brain and his scientist watched Dib as he kicked and screamed in an attempt to break free from the guard's grasp, amusement in their eyes. That amusement was the last thing Dib saw of them as he was hauled into a new hallway and the door shut.

When the guards had successfully removed Dib from the brain room, they forced him to stand, grumbling in frustration as they did so. As one guard forced Dib's arms behind his back, the other checked to make sure his cuffs were still locked tight. After they were sure, the guards gave him a harsh shove, escorting him down the hallway.

As they neared the end of the hallway, Dib found the trio heading towards the big dome where the Irkens had met in the beginning of the whole process. Although this time they had no sense of order. They just stood around, appearing to be waiting for something. Dib could hear chatter getting louder as he neared the area.

Just before they arrived at the dome, the two guards re-directed Dib through one of the first doors in the hall. They pushed him into the new room with such a force that he fell to the ground, landing face first. As Dib pulled himself together, he heard the door swoosh shut behind him. Glancing behind him, Dib found that the guards had left him here.

A bit disoriented from his fall, Dib slowly got to his feet, taking in the room before him.

Dozens of Irkens stood within the room, all of them having one similarity; they were all much shorter than what Dib had observed as "normal" in Irken society. Each of them had a sullen look on their face, keeping to themselves and looking to the ground. Some of them sat against the wall, tears in their eyes as they stared off into space. Others nervously glanced at a second door on the other side of the room. It was truly the saddest looking group of Irkens Dib had come across thus far, and it made his gut turn over. He knew that these were the Irkens who had been called failures, mistakes, and broken. He wondered if any of them had actually done anything wrong, or if they had just been looked at as unworthy of calling themselves Irkens due to their incapabilities. He guessed it was the latter. Dib found himself coming to the conclusion that Irken society was just as evil as he'd always predicted it to be.

Dib quickly picked up on a particularly loud, familiar voice on the opposite side of the room. His ears perking up, he pushed through the sorrowful Irkens until he located the speaker; Zim.

A thousand questions began racing through Dib's mind. Why was Zim, a trained invader, here, with a group of Irkens who'd been labeled as useless? It made no sense. Sure, Zim was beyond incompetent, but he'd always bragged about being a favorite in his Tallest's eyes. Why would he be sitting with defectives?

Zim leaned against a wall, chatting it up with another irken who, by the looks of it, had wanted Zim to leave him alone before he had even began speaking. The Irken cowered, his antennae hanging low as he wrung his hands.

Dib watched from across the room, listening in on Zim's ranting.

"But fortunately, I was able to escape that horrid place."

Zim paused in his words, seeming to be recalling his tale and praising himself for whatever he had done. Dib knew that whatever it was, it was despicable. He was about to continue when the little Irken he'd been speaking to took the opportunity to slip away. Zim watched him disappear into a group of defectives with a blank expression on his face and then began to cross the room.

It only took a moment before Dib realized that his enemy was getting closer. Zim didn't appear to have his mind set on anything in particular. Instead, he only seemed to be looking for someone to talk to about himself since his previous subject had disappeared. The Irkens around Dib cleared the area at the sight of Zim, which puzzled the boy. Zim had always given Dib the idea that he was a public figure; someone that the other Irkens looked up to.

After a moment, Dib found himself standing alone as all the defectives stood aside, huddled in small groups in an attempt to avoid Zim. When Dib looked to them in confusion, they avoided his gaze, pretending to be having their own conversations.

The next thing Dib knew, his greatest enemy stood before him, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Hey." Zim said casually, "What's your name?"

"I'm…Derb." Dib lied, deciding using his real name around Zim while on Irk would be a poor decision. Using his real name had already failed him once. He clenched his fists, which were becoming slippery as he began to sweat nervously.

"Huh," Zim thought, "I used to have an intern with that name. Too bad he utterly betrayed me."

Dib recalled that time. Dib was the intern named Derb that betrayed Zim. He had disguised himself as an alien to get better footage of Zim. The Irken had only taken him to some tiny solar system, however. Zim had said it was where he went to when he needed to think. It was weird. He'd forgotten he'd used that name before. He decided it didn't matter too much, as Zim hadn't seemed to put two and two together.

"Funny," Dib said, laughing nervously. He felt beads of perspiration gathering on his forehead.

Nothing was going his way on this planet. First, he failed to even communicate properly. Then, he got himself labeled as a confused defective. And now, he stood in a room of nervous aliens, making small talk with the one he despised most. He wished he'd listened to the ship when it warned him to stay away from the planet. However, he had to admit, what he'd learned about the planet and Irken society was more than what he was hoping for.

"Actually, Derb ended up being my filthy enemy, Dib." Zim shook his head, "To think I'd trusted him when it was so obvious," Zim clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing, "But It won't matter once I completely obliterate his stupid little planet."

Dib's ears perked up. He wondered if his holographic antennae had done the same.

"Do you, uh, have any plans…to destroy the planet?" Dib asked, cocking his head curiously.

"But of course!"

"Do you think you could…share them with me?" Dib asked, attempting to coax the alien.

"Never!" Zim's eye twitched, "Zim's plans are top secret!"

"Well, I've just been thinking of becoming an invader in the future, and I thought it would be nice to have some advice from the real deal," Dib explained, cringing at the thought of himself becoming a trained invader.

Zim's antennae perked, "Oh! Well in that case-" he was cut off as two guards burst into the room, both of them holding some sort of big, intimidating staff. Electricity crackled in between two short rods at the top, giving off a faint, blue-ish glow.

The guards weren't patient with the crowd of defectives. They corralled the Irkens into straight lines, zapping anyone that failed to do as asked.

Dib was directed into the first line of Irkens. They were lead through the door opposite from the one he'd entered the room in. A sense of fear became present in the boy's gut as he noticed the other Irken's body language. Their antennae hung low, their bodies hunched, and their eyes glassy. Really, Dib should have taken note of this and connected it to some sort of impending doom when he was first put with the group. But only now did the reality that he was considered some sort of criminal in the empire hit him, and now Dib felt as if he might throw up.

The group was lead out onto a big stage. It was the same one the Tallest had made their speech on earlier. A Control Brain, one far bigger than the one Dib had spoken with, loomed in the darkness at the back of the stage, watching the group silently.

When the group took the stage, there was a roar so loud it sounded like a whisper. Bright yellow spotlights flicked on, and Dib was blinded. He shaded his eyes, and was able to see the crowd below. Thousands of Irkens cheered for them as they entered the stage, jumping up and down with their hands in the air. They laughed. They screamed. They showed their excitement for the defectives, allowing the room to grow louder and louder until it became white noise, clashing with the brightness of the spotlight.

Dib wondered why. He'd thought the members of the group were hopeless defectives who had no purpose in the empire. Why were they deserving of such praise? The other defectives didn't seem to be appreciating it, so Dib could only assume the reaction was a bad one.

The group was lined up, each of them given a spot to stand on. This appeared to be a theme in the empire, standing on dots so the line was perfect and orderly.

After the cheering died down, The Tallest took the stage. They were both accompanied by their own guards, presumably in case one of the defectives attempted to try anything.

"Hey everyone!" Tallest Purple started.

"Welcome to the final ceremony!" Tallest Red continued.

"Behind us, we have each of the Irkens who were marked defective today!"

"And since we can't allow them to continually taint our superior society-" Tallest Red grinned.

"We're going to celebrate their elimination by killing them before your very eyes!" Tallest Purple made jazz hands.

The crowd broke into a roar. They stomped, clapped, screamed, and jumped. Those that were up front pounded on the stage excitedly with their hands. Now, Dib understood why they cheered.

In Irken society, watching those who had been sentenced to death be killed was treated like a privilege. Now they got to watch all these defectives, Dib included, be brutally put to death. And it was all part of some Irken holiday.

Dib, Zim, and all of these defectives were all part of some sick tradition.

* * *

 _((_ _ **A/N:**_ _Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!_

 _In case you didn't get the Derb thing, it was from one of the Invader Zim comics that have been being released. In one of the plots, Dib disguises himself as an alien named Derb and becomes Zim's intern. It made for lots of laughs. But I know not everyone has a chance to get their hands on the comics, so I thought I'd just let everyone know :)_

 _Also, I have about three weeks of school left, so hopefully after that my updates will be more constant._

 _Well, I hope you liked the chapter. Have a lovely day!))_


	6. The Escape

They were savages. Barring their teeth, pumping their fists, stomping their feet, screaming what sounded like foul words in Irken. And it was all because they got to watch these Irkens who'd been labeled as different be eradicated. It made Dib sick. Of course _he_ had to be among those who would be killed.

"Alright, alright," Tallest Red said, "I know this is all very exciting, but we have some stuff to say first."

"Counting Day has gone great this year…all thanks to you guys," Tallest Purple began.

"Only not really." Red finished, "We set all this up."

"Yeah," Purple chortled, "ee didn't find any imposters like we'd hoped, so that's too bad."

"But," Red folded his hands. "We do have these puny defectives!"

Purple sniggered. "Let's destroy them!"

The crowd roared in response. The Tallest glanced at each other, and then back at the group of defectives, a look of malice in their eyes.

The spotlights were hot. It made Dib's forehead sweat. He looked left and right for his exits, but found that the defectives were being heavily guarded.

"Well," Tallest Red said, "I guess I'll pick the lucky defective who gets to go first." Purple smiled, allowing his companion to look at the group.

Red looked each Irken up and down with a look of boredom on his face. Dib caught him picking at his claws a few times. After observing a few defectives, the Irken leader stopped in front of Dib, who stood in the front row of defectives. Dib felt his heart begin to beat faster. His entire body tensed. He couldn't go first! Of all the awful things that had happened that day, being killed first would probably be among the worst. He at least wanted to see what he was in for before being chosen. But he preferred not to go at all.

Red looked down at Dib for a long time. Dib stared back up at him furiously, mentally ranting at the irken leader about how wrong it was to perform the death sentence to the innocent in front of the public. He stopped his mental cussing, however, when Red leaned closer.

The Irken leader was gazing intently into Dib's eyes. He seemed to be…looking for something. Dib's stomach knotted when he thought that perhaps Red could be seeing through the holographic disguise, and he slightly pursed his lips. The boy didn't want to gaze away. That would most certainly earn him the prize of being first to be killed. So, Dib continued to stare into the eyes of his enemy's superior for some time. The room was silent. He had to admit, it was quite the awkward experience. He was relieved when Red finally stood up and continued down the row.

After some time, Red stood before the group.

"Alright," he said, "Eenie," he pointed to an Irken in the middle of the row,

"meenie," he moved his finger down the row to another Irken, who practically burst into tears upon being pointed at by the Almighty Tallest. Red ignored him,

"miney…" Red pointed to Dib. The boy tensed.

"You!" Red said enthusiastically. At the last second, he moved his finger, so that it pointed to the Irken next to Dib. But Red was looking the Human right in the eye. He was definitely suspicious of Dib at this point.

The Irken next to Dib stepped forward, trembling nervously. His purple eyes shone with tears. He was tiny. He had to be very young; a smeet, as Zim had called it.

"Come on now," Purple said, "Don't be shy." he smiled. The little Irken took another step, standing next to his leaders.

The smeet stood hunched over, and his bent antennae suggested he'd had a very long day.

"Hey there," Red said, "What's your name?"

"Ren," the little Irken mumbled. He looked to the ground, clasping his hands shyly behind his back.

"Aw, what a nice name." Purple edged closer, "Well, it wasn't nice knowing you!"

Purple pushed Ren over, and ripped his PAK from his back, chucking it to the side. A guard took the stage. He crossed to the detached PAK and stabbed a hole in the middle. Dib heard a little squeak come from Ren, which made him realize that the little Irken's entire life had just been taken from him before his very eyes.

"My Tallest," Ren plead, getting to his knees. His gaze was held on his broken PAK. Dib could see his eyes fill with tears, one of them rolling down his green cheek.

"What was that?" Red leaned over next to the little one, "Aw, tears?!"

"Hah!" Purple laughed out loud. "What do we do with criers in the empire?!"

"Oh, I'll show ya!" Red laughed. He waved another guard over. He was holding one of the long staffs with sparking electricity at the end. The guard looked down at the little irken with a look of pity and jabbed at Ren with the electrical end of his staff. The crowd went wild as Ren curled up into a spastic ball, the electricity surging through his body.

It had been about two minutes since Ren's PAK had been removed. That gave him eight minutes before death.

Dib looked from Ren to the tallest. They were wiping tears from their eyes. Big, laughing smiles spread across their faces.

"Do it-Do it again," Purple managed in-between laughs. The guard took another stab, this time at Ren's side. The Irken's back arched in pain, and he yelped out.

The Irken sustained stab after stab with the electric staff. Each time it happened, the crowd cheered louder, and the defective Irkens around Dib seemed to become smaller. They did nothing to try and stop it. They only looked away, flinching when they heard the pained cries of the dying smeet before them.

Over time, Ren's pleas for mercy became incoherent. Dib recalled the time Zim had briefly lost his own PAK back on Earth. The alien had come crawling into his father's lab, uttering complete nonsense. Dib had found it amusing then, but now was unsure. Maybe he'd matured. Or, perhaps the current situation was making him squeamish. He didn't even know this young Irken, but he was being forced to watch him suffer through his final minutes as people cheered for his death. It made him uneasy.

Ren's eyes were starting to become cloudy. His reactions were delayed. His words became meaningless mumbles. However, Dib could still see the panic in his eyes. He was still squirming around, still trying to get away.

When the guard went to take another stab, Ren's squirms caused his arm to hit the staff. Instead of zapping the smeet's side, the staff was redirected and stabbed his eye. Immediately, it began swelling. The little Irken cried out in pain, and his clumsy hands found their way to his injury. The guard jabbed at Ren again, harder that time. He took another few quick stabs and then struck Ren in the chest. Ren went limp.

The Tallest burst out into laughter, and Dib felt anger boil deep in his stomach. They were amused to see suffering. To them, it meant nothing. To them, this was good. They believed Ren deserved this pain, and Dib knew that they would forget who Ren even was within a matter of hours.

Purple wiped the tears from his eyes, "Okay, Okay," he wiped away his tears, "My turn to pick." he looked over the remaining group of defectives.

"Wait," Red demanded. He looked Dib in the eye, whispering something to Purple. Purple's gaze moved directly to Dib.

"You," Purple said, pointing to Dib.

Dib's entire body tensed. The Tallest were onto him. He looked back at the other defectives. They were all staring at him with sympathetic faces. All except, Zim wore blank expression.

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Purple urged.

Dib hesitated, but he stepped forward. As he approached the Tallest, he looked at the guard and his staff, who gave him a stern look back. He looked up at Purple, who seemed ready to get started.

They didn't ask for a name this time. Red came up from behind. Dib felt him tug on his backpack, and his body jerked backward with it. He looked back at the Irken leader in annoyance. Red looked confused.

"Say," Red started, "Why won't your PAK detach?"

Dib couldn't bring himself to say anything. He simply looked up at Red, his stomach tying in knots.

"Let me try," Purple offered. He grabbed at Dib's imaginary PAK as well. Dib was tugged in the opposite direction.

"Hey," Purple sounded angry now, "Did you do something with your PAK?" he looked at the guard and snapped his fingers. The guard rushed up behind Dib, zapping him in the back of the neck.

Dib didn't respond. Without a second thought, Purple looked at the guard and snapped his fingers. The guard rushed up behind Dib, zapping him in the back of the neck.

Dib lost all control of his body. His muscles were shaking, his heart was racing. For a split second, everything had disappeared. His body was aching, and he found that he had collapsed on the floor. His ears were ringing, but he could hear concerned voices all around him. He got to his feet.

Looking into the crowd, Dib saw thousands of shocked faces. He looked up at the Tallest. They looked disgusted at him. He looked down at himself and found out why.

His holographic disguise had faltered, exposing his human self to the entirety of the Irken race. Dib felt his stomach drop, and he looked into the sea of Irkens in the crowd before him as their expressions of shock changed to anger. Two guards were immediately by his side to ensure he couldn't escape.

"Hey!" Dib heard a familiar voice coming from behind him. He turned around. Zim came pushing through the group of defectives, "Dib human!"

The invader marched right up to Dib, glaring at him. He was about to speak when Tallest Red beat him to it.

"Zim," he asked, "do you know this…thing?"

So, the Tallest hadn't remembered their previous encounter with Dib. He felt rather offended, but pushed it aside. The Tallest were self-absorbed. He assumed that they probably forgot a lot of people.

"Allow me to explain, my Tallest," Zim saluted them respectfully. "This happens to be one of the Human-pests whose planet I've been working to infiltrate," he shot Dib a dirty look, "and this one seems to have followed me here."

Red pinched the skin between his eyes with a groan."You lead a foreign enemy to a _private_ Irken event?"

"Well, I didn't _mean_ to," Zim scoffed.

The Control Brain at the back of the stage slowly moved forward. Dib had almost forgotten it was there.

"How could you be so incompetent?!" the Control Brain asked, anger hanging in his voice.

"What do you mean?!" Zim frowned. "Zim is amazing!"

"You lead an alien intruder to a private event!" the brain sounded appalled.

"So?" Zim crossed his arms.

"So?!" the Brain was shocked, "Imagine if this had gone unreported!"

"He was marked as defective! He would've died anyways. It's not like a stupid human like him is a threat." Zim scoffed. Dib noted that the alien seemed…upset? Dib couldn't tell. There was an unfamiliar tone to his voice. It was like he didn't like being scolded, which was understandable. He was in denial that he'd done anything wrong. He wanted to pretend like his mishap was nothing when it seemed to the Control Brain that it was everything.

"This type of error cannot go without punishment," the Brain explained. She looked to Dib. "You will _both_ be given heavier punishments before execution." She looked to the guards with a stern look on her face, and they began to close in on Zim. The two guards at Dib's side tightened their grips on him.

When Zim found himself being surrounded, he began to panic.

"Hey!" he cried, "What do you think you're doing?! Get off of Zim!"

There was a moment of panicked noises as the guards piled on top of Zim. After a brief silence, a few of the guards were aggressively pushed aside by two slender PAK legs. The legs repositioned themselves, knocking away the rest of the guards. Zim dashed across the stage and into the crowd below.

The guards immediately jumped to their feet and after Zim. The two at Dib's side began to leave their post, but they seemed to remember that they were already occupied, and remained where they were. Dib took the opportunity while they were distracted and pulled away. They tried to stop him, but Dib began to run as fast as his legs could carry him. He'd officially decided he was finished with his visit to Irk.

There was already a path carved through the Irkens that Dib could escape through. Dib looked ahead and saw Zim…shooting at his fellow Irkens. He was shooting them down with some strange gun in his PAK, and Dib wondered if he was feeling any guilt while doing it. He highly doubted it.

The gap made by Zim's gun had quickly filled up with frightened green faces. The entire room was panicking. He heard the Tallest a ways behind him, shouting out orders. No one seemed to have enough sense to stop Dib as he darted through and around the crowd, making his way towards the exit. As Dib neared it, he saw that the big door was beginning to close. He would be trapped if he couldn't make it in time.

The boy picked up his pace. He began to aggressively shove Irkens to the side instead of going around them. He felt his heart pounding even faster. His eyes were locked on the outside of the dome as he neared the exit. His chances of getting access to the outside were getting smaller and smaller. He was beginning to feel like someone from an action movie.

When he was a few steps away, his lungs were screaming at him to stop. But he didn't, and dashed straight through the narrowing exit and onward.

The streets of Irk were lifeless. There wasn't an irken to be seen outside of the dome. It was a ghost-town, or perhaps a ghost-planet.

His feet pounded on the planet's metal surface. He looked left and right, trying to recall which street he'd left Tak's ship on. He would've completely missed it if he hadn't seen what looked like the Irken equivalent of a tow truck pulling his ship along.

He stopped dead in his tracks. After processing this event, he hurried to catch up with the tow truck.

"Hey!" he called, "What's going on?!"

A driver pulling the truck leaned out the window, "Is this yours?" his brow furrowed. "Well listen up, buddy. This ship has an expired signature. That _and_ it's been illegally tampered with. This thing is coming with me." With that, the driver took off. There was a scowl on his face.

Dib stayed still, his heart sinking. Without the ship, he would be stranded on Irk for who knows how long. He watched the tow truck disappear into the distance. Suddenly, Dib heard a commotion behind him. As he turned around, he saw a hoard of Irken guards heading in his direction. Immediately, he dashed in the opposite direction. He was almost going too fast to notice Zim getting into his own ship down the next street. Dib stopped. He looked to the flock of guards. They were gaining on him. Dib let out a hesitant sigh and hurried as fast as his legs could carry him in the direction of Zim and his ship.

* * *

 _((Hi everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long. I got extremely busy with finals for a few weeks, and was then struggling to get back into the writing groove. But I finally got myself to catch up, so I can finally, finally, FINALLY post another chapter. It's really nice to have the free time._

 _I'm overall proud of this chapter. I feel that I did alright with the characterization. However, I'm not so pleased with the whole escape scene at the end. While working on this I realized I'm not so good at writing escape scenes._

 _I've got a question if anyone has an answer. Do you think I should maybe bump up the rating from a K+ to a T? I don't think the torture was THAT bad, but I thought it would be good to get some other opinions, too._

 _Alright. I'll try and update the next chapter sooner. Now that I'm not so busy it should be quicker. I would love if you could please leave review. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, have a lovely day!))_


	7. Goodbye, Irk

Zim swiped his hand over the Voot's dashboard, huffing at the inconvenience of his situation. He grumbled as the ship's engines whirred to life.

He was beyond annoyed. However, he knew that once he got back to Earth and made up for his mistake, all would go back to normal. The Tallest had to have understood that Zim had no intentions of the Dib following him home. He'd been in such a rush after forgetting about the event that he'd failed to worry about Dib. It was a simple mistake, not a sign of defectivity. Still, Zim was irritated, even infuriated that Dib had followed him back to Irk.

Zim took a deep breath. Once he reminded the Tallest that he was a skilled invader, all would be well once more. He would be forgiven. He always was.

Zim was preparing for launch. He was about to close the Voot's windshield when he noticed someone crawling into the Voot at his side.

Dib.

"Hey!" Zim yelled into Dib's ear. He clawed at the human in an attempt to get him away, but he only clung onto the sides of the voot, making 'nyeh!' noises as he fought back.

"This is my ship! What're you doing in it?!" Zim demanded to know.

" _Go!_ " Dib ordered, crawling inside.

"Never!" Zim argued back, "What makes you think you can be the commander of Zim?!"

"Them!"

Dib pointed to a group of a dozen or so Irken guards, who were headed straight in the direction of the two. Electrical staffs zapped at their sides. Zim could practically feel the electricity as he began repeatedly pressed the button to close the ship and initiate liftoff, letting out panicked screeches.

Finally, the Voot began to hover, and the next thing Zim knew he was soaring into the Irken sky as he sat next to his enemy. Not only had Dib trespassed onto Irken territory, but now he was inviting himself onto Zim's ship! Zim couldn't help but feel that his privacy had been disregarded once again.

It seemed that no matter what Zim, Dib always found a way to enter the picture. He attempted to invade Earth, and Dib foiled his plans. He finds that he has an unbearably painful allergy to water, and Dib came along with every type of water weapon he could get his hands on. And now, he attends a mandatory event on his home planet, and Dib chose to follow. Dib had the location of the place that Zim called home, as well as who knows what kind of information about the planet, much to the dismay of the Tallest. Dib just _had_ to come in and ruin everything. Zim was practically seething with rage about what Dib had done at this point.

But Zim would fix it. He _had_ to fix it. He had a mission to complete, and he wasn't about to let some intrusive human ruin it for him. The Tallest weren't angry with them, but he would have to prove himself to them after allowing himself to perform such a foolish mistake. He was far better than this, and The Tallest knew it.

As the two ascended into the atmosphere, Zim didn't speak to Dib. There was simply nothing to say. But he knew he couldn't just allow a human to ride with him the entire journey. That would be a terrible waste of space. He would have to ditch the human on some sort of horrible planet later on. He decided he'd need to look further into it.

As they approached the bubble shield protecting the planet, Zim turned around to look at the guards below. He could see them scrambling down the street, trying to get to a ship they could use to chase after the criminals, and he sniggered. However, these feelings of amusement were soon killed as the ship ran straight into the shield rather than through it. Zim lost control of the ship momentarily, and they were sent freefalling towards the planet's surface until he could redirect it. Zim groaned in annoyance, looking up at the shield again.

"What happened?!" Dib asked. Zim turned to him. He'd forgotten the human was there.

"You," Zim narrowed his eyes, "This is _your_ doing!"

"What're you talking about?! Why couldn't we get through the bubble?!" Dib's voice was frantic.

"That shield is made to keep out trespassers and prevent criminals from escaping. You can only pass through if you have a ship with a cleared irken signature! But now because of you and your filthy trespassing, my ship's signature has a mark on it!"

"How are we supposed to get out then?"

"Be quiet!"

Zim flew the ship rather low to the ground, but not so low as to be hit by some sort of gun from a guard. He scanned the planet's surface for his destination. When it came into view, he landed the ship and hopped out without another word.

A round-ish building stood before them. There were gates surrounding the building with electric barbed wire lining the top. All around the building were tall, rod-like structures. They connected to the building through wires.

"Where are we?!" Dib asked, his jaw hanging open as he observed the building.

"The main supplier for Irken electricity, you fool," Zim scoffed. He hopped out of the Voot, "Stay here."

He heard the Dib yelling things back at him as he crossed the yard. He stopped in front of the main station, looking the place up and down. He wasn't too experienced in the electricity field, but was sure that with his incredible engineering skills he would be able to figure something out. He observed the wires connected to the building. They all led around the building towards the same area. Zim followed them.

It was rather quiet on Irk that day considering that the entirety of the population was in the event dome. It was quiet enough for Zim to hear the low humming of electricity emitting from the wires. As Zim circled the building, the humming got louder and louder until he found himself next to a large box that appeared to be the main source of the power.

He looked back outside the gates of the electricity plant and found that the guards were nearing the location. They'd located police ships now, which was helping them travel at a much faster pace. Zim quickly turned back to the power core. Four PAK legs slid out his PAK, and he pointed them straight at the main station and fired his laser. As the laser pierced the core, it lit up with electricity.

Orange sparks rained from the core. Power seemed to surge all around the planet. Lights in buildings went extremely bright. The sound of overworking machinery rang around the city, and then all went quiet.

Zim looked up. The pink shield was falling. It melted away, starting at the top-most part of the sky and working its way down. It faded away in a glitching pattern, patch after patch of shield disappearing one after another. As the pink shield descended into the horizon, the late evening sky cast a new tone over Irk. The light was natural. Shadows were darker. The air seemed to cool down. The planet seemed like a different place without the shield. There was an eerie presence, considering anything would be able to enter the planet's atmosphere.

Zim crossed the yard and got into the voot. He said nothing. Dib blinked.

"What did you do?!" Dib asked with wide eyes, "How is taking down a power station supposed to help us?!"

"We can get off the planet now," Zim replied.

"Yeah," Dib sounded frustrated, "But that just gives them another reason to hunt us down! Zim, you're an idiot!"

"They wouldn't be onto us if you hadn't followed me here in the first place!" Zim snapped.

Suddenly, the entire ship lurched forward. Zim looked out the window, and found them surrounded by Irken guard ships. They had connected to the back of the voot through an electric chain. Zim squealed loudly, aggressively telling the ship to accelerate until the ship barreled through two guard ships and straight into the power station.

A bit dazed from the sudden impact, Zim steered the ship straight upward. Dib was practically passed out from the sudden G-forces in the seat next to Zim, and Zim was dragging the guard ship connected through the electric chain behind him.

"Get. Off!" Zim began driving the ship in zig-zag's in order to shake off the guard ship. After a few moments, the guard ship was sent flying into a building on the planet below. Zim let out a loud laugh as he watched the ship turn into a flaming wreckage.

Zim allowed his steering to settle until they were cruising at a normal speed. Zim switched the ship into auto pilot and watched the Irken home planet grow smaller in the distance. He felt empty. Due to the unfavorable emotions, he forced himself to look away. As he took in the previous situation, he felt the anger and fear begin to truly settle in.

* * *

Dib felt himself coming to. He sat up, and looked out the window to his side. They passed by white, twinkling stars that shone in the distance. Dib watched them move slowly across the window for a moment as he took in the previous events. He'd gotten himself a ride, which was good. His driver had totally wrecked a power station and then barreled through a barricade of police ships…but he still had a ride. Making sure he could keep that ride was what concerned Dib now.

Dib turned to Zim. The Irken was sitting in the driver's seat, facing away from Dib. His gaze was down on some sort of monitor. Dib couldn't see what was on it, as the Irken's body was in the way.

Zim's entire body was rigid. He even seemed to be shaking a little, although Dib couldn't guess why. It made the atmosphere an uncomfortable one. The only noise was the humming of the Voot's engine.

Dib leaned forward to get a glance at Zim's screen. It was what looked like a list of planets. Finally, he broke the silence,

"Where are we gonna go?"

Zim glanced back at Dib with a mixture of confusion and anger in his eye.

"You're stupid, human. I have the Voot locked onto Earth."

It took a moment for Dib to answer. "Don't you think that's a little obvious of us?"

Zim glanced back again, "I have to get back to Earth and destroy it!"

Dib was befuddled. Zim was seriously worried about his dumb mission at a time like this?! They were surely the most wanted criminals in the galaxy at that point in time, and Zim was worried about mass genocide.

"You really think that matters?!"

"But of course. It's my job."

Dib laughed, "Not anymore. I'm pretty sure with the whole 'running away from that crazy ceremony thing got you fired, Zim. You're an outlaw. Not to mention a defective. They were gonna kill you anyway. I saw what happened to that one guy."

Zim stiffened, clenching his fists. He still wasn't looking at Dib. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Dib rolled his eyes. He would have to ask Zim about the defective thing later. He had to be honest, it was still nagging him in the back of his mind. An invader being marked defective? It made no sense.

Dib shook this from his mind and worried about what was important.

"Back to Earth, then," Dib finally said.

Zim laughed, finally turning to Dib, "I'm not taking you to Earth, I'm taking you to Planet Sylvestra. You'll surely be ripped to shreds there!"

"What?!" Dib sat up straight, "You have to take me back home!"

"As if I'd take you back to Earth after that horrendous scene you caused! I can never show my glorious face around you again!"

"You wouldn't be able to show your face anyway! You were marked defective!"

"No! Zim was merely getting a better look at the ceremony."

"Yeah, okay." Dib crossed his arms, "But you gotta give me a ride back to Earth, Zim. Just this one time!"

"I'd give a snarl beast a ride to Earth before you!"

"You gave me a ride with a snarl beast that one time," Dib mumbled.

"Only because you followed me!" Zim pointed an accusing finger. "You and your snooping human nose just have to follow me everywhere!"

"What does my nose have to do with snooping?!"

"Rgh- _I don't know!"_ Zim exclaimed in an agitated voice. He turned away from Dib with his arms crossed, pouting.

"Alright, here," Dib began, "We'll make a truce."

"I'm not interested at making peace with you and your following human face," Zim said flatly.

Dib rubbed his palm on his forehead in frustration. Communicating with Zim was like communicating with a toddler, only worse. He continued, "You're going to take me back to Earth. If you ditch me anywhere, then I'll find my way to civilization and turn you and your disgusting alien guts in."

"Turn me in to whom?" Zim asked, amused.

"You know who," Dib's voice came out smooth and sincere. He felt pretty cool, "You can't stay in denial about it and you know it. You're a criminal, Zim."

Zim was silent. He seemed to be contemplating his decision.

Dib had seen Zim use denial in plenty of situations. However, if the situation was dire, he would get himself out without acknowledging the problem at hand. He would just get himself out and pretend like nothing happened. This was what method he was using at that moment. It was just another way that Zim acted like a human child.

Finally, Zim responded, "What's in it for Zim?" he looked at Dib suspiciously.

Dib thought for a moment. He would have to think of something pretty good in order to earn himself this ride home, as Zim had made it pretty obvious he had no interest in the idea.

"I won't abandon you anywhere," Dib said. No, it wasn't enough, "If I do, I won't stop you from taking over Earth.

He regretted it. He'd spoke without thinking. It was a bad deal. Knowing Zim, the alien would find a way to get Dib to abandon him. Then he would find his way off whatever desert planet it may be, mosey on back to Earth and complete his mission. And there would be nothing Dib could do about it. However, he needed the ride.

A wicked grin spread across Zim's face. He let out a low laugh under his breath and held out his hand.

"You get one chance without me in the picture," Dib said. He would have to hope Zim's potential attempt for invasion with Dib on standby was a fail.

"Deal," Zim agreed.

Dib took Zim's hand. They shook.

"Deal."

All Dib had to do now was keep himself from abandoning Zim.

* * *

 _((Hey all!_

 _This chapter took longer to come out than I expected. I've been busier than I expected in the last few weeks, and other than that I've just been lazy. I'm really sorry about the delay._

 _I had a good time writing this chapter, however I can't help but feel there's a little too much going on. With Zim being angry with Dib, and in denial, and dealing with all the security measures, and now they've got this lil' deal goin' on, I kinda feel like it got all mashed together. I hope it's not too hectic. I've already got the next chapter written up, so hopefully that'll get better in the future._

 _But other than that setback, I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review, and have a lovely day. Thank you for reading!))_


	8. Restaurant Struggles

"Irken Zim has committed countless crimes."

"Yes."

"We have no written records of humans, as irken Zim called the thing."

"I'll manage."

An irken stood before a Control Brain. They looked straightforward, and not directly at the brain. Their face was cold and ruthless .

The brain took a moment to respond. She looked at the irken's records again, deep in thought.

"We should be marking you defective," the Control Brain finally said, "Your past actions should go with consequences. I'm surprised you made it through the process."

The irken didn't respond. They only bowed their head respectfully.

"If you can complete this mission, then we will relieve your record of its past defective actions and upgrade your status in the empire."

"Yes, ma'am." the irken agreed.

"But if you fail," the Brain continued, "Your PAK will be removed and erased."

The irken's hand clenched at their side, but they didn't protest, "Yes, ma'am."

"You volunteered to find them," the Brain said at the sight of their fear, "But failure will come with punishment. There's no room for failure in the empire."

"I know." the irken said, continuing to look at their feet.

"You will be given a ship, as well as weapons and armor for your mission. You _will_ find those criminals."

"Yes, ma'am"

* * *

Dib was beginning to feel hungry. He opened his backpack, which he'd stuffed in between the seat and the side of the voot. Looking inside, he pulled out the box of granola bars he'd put in. He opened the box, and found two granola bars left inside. He was rather disappointed. The box had felt way more full when he'd put it into the bag. Or maybe he'd really just eaten that many granola bars on the way to Irk. He shrugged, and ate the bars anyways. Now he was left with the bag of potato chips.

He opened the potato chip bag. Most of them were crushed, but Dib was hungry enough to just eat the oily chip crumbs. As he licked his fingers, he turned to Zim, who was cringing as he did so. After a while of this, he finally spoke up,

"Could you please…not eat those foul vegetable crumbs?"

"Well what else am I supposed to eat?"

Zim looked perplexed, "Nothing!"

"Well how long until we're back to Earth?" Dib asked. Just going along with things would be easier than arguing.

Zim thought for a moment, "About equivalent to two Earth rotations."

Dib choked on his chips, "But it didn't take that long to _get_ to Irk."

"Yes, but I had to overwork the voot's engines in order to get there in time."

"Tak's ship was fine! What's wrong with yours?!"

 _"Nothing is wrong with the ship of Zim!"_

Dib groaned, and put the chips to the side. Zim watched them, a look of disgust on his face. He was all curled up onto the driver's seat in an odd position as if the chips were going to jump up and bite him.

"Look, Zim." Dib rubbed his neck in frustration. Zim was tiring. The thought of being trapped in a ship with his for two days made him want to yell, "I'm not sure what irkens do on road trips, but humans can't just…not eat for two days! I'm sure I'll have to stop to use the bathroom at some point, too!"

"I'm not stopping! I have to infiltrate the Earth!"

"Well you either stop, or you've got a malnourished human whose bladder explodes all over your dashboard because you let him sit and be hungry while he drank a ton of soda." Dib said. He didn't think anyone's bladder could actually explode, but he knew the idea would be convincing. Dib was sure that it worked when Zim's face contorted into an expression of pure disgust and shock. The human boy found it rather amusing.

"Fine, I suppose I can make an exception." Zim turned to the ship's controls, "But only because I don't want your repulsive human guts all over my ship."

* * *

They ended up stopping at a small rest area on a small, rocky planet. The inside of the restaurant was mainly orange, with grease staining the furniture and walls.

"Hurry up!" Zim said, crossing his arms. Dib slid out of the ship.

"You're not gonna come?" Dib tilted his head with a smirk, "How am I supposed to know you won't _leave_ while I'm in there.

"Because if I leave, you'll continue to foil my plans." Zim replied smugly.

"Yeah, I don't trust you." really, Dib just needed someone to pay for the food. However, Zim didn't need to know that, "I'll just wait here until you decide you're ready to join me."

"I don't need to eat." Zim said bluntly.

"You don't have to."

Zim groaned, and reluctantly got out of the ship. Dib turned on his heel, and the two entered the small restaurant.

Dib was unsure if they would even have a bathroom. He'd become fairly certain that Zim had no use for a bathroom, and was a little worried that the trait would apply to all aliens. However, this soon proved wrong when Dib located a small bathroom at the back of the restaurant.

As Dib exited the bathroom, he located Zim, who sat at a booth in the corner, along the back wall. The lighting was dim, and Zim was twiddling his thumbs in annoyance. Dib took his place across from Zim, and looked at the menu that had been placed at his seat.

He looked over the menu before him, and found that he didn't recognize any of the items. Their descriptions all described some sort of food that had polka dots, or was alive until you started picking at it. He looked up at Zim, who had his cheek resting in his palm with a bored expression on his face.

"Um, is eating this stuff gonna make me sick?" Dib asked.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Zim snapped back in an annoyed tone.

Dib didn't reply. He simply looked back down at the menu. He pondered on whether or not it was worth it, or if it would just be better to eat the chip crumbs and deal with Zim's nagging the rest of the way back. Before he could make his decision, a big alien wearing a greasy apron stood at the side of the table.

"What you want?" he asked in a strange accent. His voice was very low.

"Um…" Dib looked down at the menu. Unsure of what anything was, he pointed to something that didn't look too toxic and smiled back up at the waiter. He didn't say anything, and looked over to Zim.

"I don't want any of your trash-food." Zim said, and waved the waiter away. He did as instructed, his brow furrowed. He disappeared into the kitchen.

Dib looked over to Zim, who had once again taken up his bored expression as he slouched over the table, glancing out the window on the other side of the room. Even in a place where he could be accepted without his disguise, he was still looking down on others.

Dib didn't understand Zim and his ways. He was constantly angry, and seemed to look down on everyone. However, Dib had recently learned that maybe Zim wasn't as high and mighty in the empire than he'd originally thought…

"Zim?" he asked.

" _What?"_ Zim rolled his eyes.

"Why were you with the defectives?"

Zim immediately shifted his gaze toward Dib, his eyes narrowed, "What defectives?"

"Don't lie, Zim. I'm not stupid."

"Yes, you are!"

Dib rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat. Zim was…impossible to deal with. He wouldn't say things he didn't want to say, and he wouldn't listen to things he didn't want to hear.

The two sat mostly in silence for the rest of the time. They would make the occasional remark, and it would sometimes turn into pointless banter that would die off when Dib got sick of hearing Zim's arguing. Other than that, however, the two spent the time in the restaurant sitting with their arms crossed and avoiding eye contact. After a while, two other aliens entered the restaurant. They took their seats across the way from Dib and Zim.

When Dib's food arrived, he stared down at it. It was a big lump of goo that would suddenly lurch from time to time. Some parsley had been gently placed next to it.

Dib located the fork at his side. He hesitated, his fork hovering over his food as he nervously leaned away. He swallowed his saliva as he went in for the food. As he pierced it with his fork, the thing began to shake violently. He panicked, and pushed it away. It landed on the floor across the room. The waiter looked at him from across the restaurant with an annoyed expression. Dib guessed that he was through eating for the time being. He would have to convince Zim to stop somewhere else; perhaps not a restaurant this time.

The waiter crossed the room and slapped a bill down on the table, glaring angrily at Dib before he stormed away. Zim pushed the bill across the table to Dib, who looked back at him in shock.

"What? Did you think _I_ would pay for _your_ filthy food?!" Zim mocked.

"Well, yeah," Dib explained, "Do you really think I have money for this…goop?" Dib raised his eyebrows. Zim looked defeated.

"Shut your hole." Zim said, snatching the bill back. He looked at it, and then to Dib, who had an amused smile spread across his face. He grumbled and looked down at the bill, scribbling with a pen that had been provided by the waiter.

Dib was sort of surprised Zim was even paying. It just didn't seem to him like the Zim thing to do. It was rather bizarre to see Zim doing what was considered "normal" for once. He was usually pretty bad at it.

Zim for some reason took a long time signing a bill, so Dib glanced around. Alien restaurants were surprisingly normal considering they were run by aliens. A big, orange "open" sign flickered on and off in the window. A hazy fog was settling outside the restaurant. Dib's gaze moved from the window, and he found himself being stared at by one of the aliens across the way. His partner was busy, chatting away.

Dib looked away, assuming it was an accident. But when he glanced back, he found the alien still staring him down, now more intensely. Dib gave the alien a strange look, and tried looking away again.

The next thing Dib knew, the alien was at his side.

"Is this you?!" he asked, holding out a small, circular device. He was on some sort of social media site, only for aliens. Both Zim and Dib's face were on screen, with information about them underneath. Dib couldn't read the language.

"…Yes?" Dib gulped.

The alien turned around, "These guys are wanted! By the Irken Empire!" he shouted. The waiter looked to the booth, and frowned. He began to make his way over.

Dib tried to scoot his way out of the booth, but was tackled by the alien accuser.

"Hey, get off!" Dib whacked at his attacker, and managed to push his face away for a minute. It was just long enough for him to steal his legs back from under the alien and kick him away.

He ran. He made it outside of the restaurant before he checked to make sure Zim was close behind. Of course, the irken was nowhere to be found. The human boy groaned, entering the establishment once again.

Of course, Zim had himself tackled. The alien who'd attacked Dib had gotten his friend to sit on top of Zim, who let out pathetic, fake cries of fear.

"Dib-human! I won't make it! Get to the voot, don't worry about me!" He whined in his best "woe as me" voice. Dib rolled his eyes. No matter how much Dib wanted to, he couldn't leave Zim. It was for the fate of the Earth.

Dib charged back after Zim, and tackled the alien. It created enough force to knock the alien off of Zim. Dib stood, and began to run out the restaurant once again, this time with Zim running close behind.

They were climbing into the voot when Dib felt someone grab his leg. He cried out for help, only for Zim to come to his rescue, by pulling out one of his PAK guns. The alien at Dib's ankle's eyes widened, and he fell away. Dib continued to climb into the voot, and Zim immediately took off into the sky. Dib looked down on the planet and saw the aliens angrily yelling up at them.

* * *

The planet they'd stopped at was fading into the distance when Zim finally spoke.

"You didn't leave me."

"You wanted me to." Dib replied.

"Of course," Zim said, his tone explaining that it was obvious, "But you didn't."

"Well, yeah," Dib said, mimicking Zim's tone, "That would break the deal we made."

Zim didn't respond. Dib looked over at him. There was a look of confusion on his face. It was like he couldn't wrap his head around the idea that Dib trusted him with this deal they'd created. He seemed completely baffled that Dib had put forth his trust. Dib wondered, _should_ he have put forth his trust? It made sense. He knew for a fact that Zim knew if he broke the deal, then he would be turned in. As much as he didn't want to admit to it, Zim knew.

Dib merely wondered why Zim was suddenly so baffled that Dib had followed through with his word. Had he thought Dib was lying when he agreed to stay with Zim? It struck Dib like Zim wasn't used to somone actually trusted him. It was like he was shocked that they were actually going through with the deal.

Dib shook his head. Of course Zim was questioning Dib's trust in him. He was an irken soldier made to destroy. He would never be anything more.

* * *

 _((Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I posted it early for you guys. I normally would like to have it posted after I finished the following chapter, but I have a busy few weeks coming up and will have almost no chances to write, so I decided to make an exception. I thought I might just work overtime tonight to keep my process consistent, but that doesn't work out for me, considering I've gotta get up in the morning. I'll just have to work a little extra before the next chapter comes out. The next one is almost complete._

 _I hope this one wasn't too fast paced. I haven't had much motivation for this lately, so I feel like I've been writing things a little too quickly. However, the story is in a more calm spot right now, so maybe once things pick up again it'll get better._

 _In the mean time, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll post again as soon as possible, even though it might be a while. I hope you understand. But for now, I hope you have a lovely day. Thank you for reading!))_


	9. Foe

Zim stood up, wiping his brow and closing the fuel tank. He tossed the fuel back into the back compartment of the voot, and leaned on the side of the vehicle.

They were landed on a forest planet. It hadn't been properly explored yet, and had no name. Zim had stopped them there so that the Dib could use the forest for…human things. It was disgusting. However, the stop was rather convenient, as the voot had run extremely low on fuel.

Zim crossed his arms and threw his head back with an impatient groan. The planet's sun was beating down onto the planet's surface. It was hot, and Zim wanted no part of it. He wondered what Dib could possibly be doing that was taking so long.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the trees near Zim. His antennae perked, and he looked over.

To his right was a small clearing that they'd steered clear of while landing. Dib had pointed out that landing in a clear area may make it easy for them to be spotted to those passing by on the planet. They'd already been chased off the restaurant planet, as well as a grocery store that they'd stopped by. Dib hadn't eaten anything at the restaurant and still needed nourishment. The pit stop was a waste of time in Zim's eyes. However, the Dib had refused to stop making strange noises with his digestive organs until Zim stopped. It was annoying, and Zim had hated the entire experience of the store.

Zim gazed into the clearing through a bush, and his eyes widened. A ship. There was an irken ship in the clearing. It looked like a spittle runner, although more advanced. Perhaps a more modern model.

There was something at Zim's shoulder, and he jumped.

"What're you looking at?" Dib leaned over the irken, who was breathing heavily. He pointed into the clearing at the ship.

The ship's door slid open, and a soldier stepped out. They were covered head to toe in purple armor. An irken insignia was printed on the chest, as well as the forehead. The collar flared out over the shoulders as it commonly did on irken clothing, and the visor on their helmet was tinted gray so that one could not see inside.

"Who is that?" Dib asked, looking to Zim.

Zim scoffed, "As if I know. Not all Irkens know each other, Dib."

The irken soldier looked to their wrist and tapped on some sort of screen. A green field of light shone from their wrist, and they began to move the field slowly around the area.

"They're scanning the area," Zim whispered.

"We've gotta get out of here!" Dib said sheepishly. He began to get to his feet.

"Wait!" Zim held him down, "That scanner can detect movement. If we stay still, then it might miss us."

Dib listened. They laid low for a moment, watching the irken scan the area. They slowly made their way around the clearing. When the field crossed over the two of them, it continued on, and they let out a breath of relief. However, it then turned bright red and paused in its position.

The irken took a step in their direction. It was then that the two of them decided that it was time to leave. The hopped up and turned around toward the voot.

The next the two of them knew, there were lasers buzzing by their faces. Zim let out a shrill scream, the sensation of panic setting in his chest. Zim looked back, and saw the irken. Their body was stiff, their head hanging low, and they had a gun pointed at the two of them. They fired it.

A beam of pink light was sent flying at Zim's face. He fell to the ground, and it brushed over the top of his antennae, leaving a burning feeling at the tip.

Zim was breathing hard. Dib was already in the voot, looking back at him, wide-eyed. He scrambled into the ship, beams of light whizzing by and hitting the objects around them. Zim closed the hood of the voot. Once it was closed, he leaned back, wheezing hard.

" _Zim, go!"_ Dib was at Zim's side again. He looked to the human, and followed his pointing hand. The strange irken was approaching the voot. Zim shifted the voot into drive, and they began to hover. They couldn't float into the clearing while avoiding the irken, so Zim resorted to going straight through the treetops.

Zim looked down onto the planet below. The irken's ship was hovering above the ground, and began to follow them. New, bigger lasers, much like the ones from their smaller guns, fired out of the cannons on their ship. Zim squealed, and picked up his pace, trying to fire his own in order to get away.

The ship lurched. They'd been hit. Zim whined in fear, and pulled up a monitor to check the severity of the damage. It was low. They'd be able to escape safely if they could avoid another hit.

Zim floored it, and they took off into space, the irken and their spittle runner left behind, and unable to react fast enough to keep up. Zim took a right; just to be sure they'd lose the irken.

After a while of flying at hyper speed, Zim allowed the ship to slow down, and he leaned back slowly into the seat.

"What was that?!" Dib tugged on his hair, "Who was that?!" He looked over to Zim, wide-eyed.

"I don't know! I've never seen that armor before!" Zim pressed buttons, refusing to look at Dib.

Zim had never seen any irken occupation that required that uniform before. Irken uniforms never covered the eyes. It was odd. Perhaps the ship was stolen? No, there would be reports of a missing ship.

"It was probably just someone sweeping the planet of life for invasion," Zim said, making up his own answer. It was more for himself than for Dib.

"It didn't seem like it." Dib replied, "They were targeting us!"

"No, just, don't worry about it!" Zim snapped, frustration growing in his voice.

Dib remained quiet, his face turning red. Humans did that when they experienced extreme emotions. Zim found it amusing.

"We can't just ignore something like this! Zim, I know you're scared, but you need to face your problems sometime!" Dib continued again.

Zim felt his stomach drop. Dib, assuming how _he_ felt. Zim wasn't afraid; he was never afraid! All he wanted was to return to Earth and complete his mission. All he wanted to do was prove himself to the Tallest.

"I am _not_ afraid. Dib, just listen to your superior when he tells you that this will all be fine." Zim assured.

"Zim! Stop lying!" Dib yelled. Zim looked at him with disapproval, "You're an outlaw, you're being chased by some sort of bounty hunter or something!" he pulled at his hair, "Zim, you were marked defective!"

"Liar!" Zim tugged his antennae in frustration, "You know nothing about Zim!"

"Yes I do!"

Zim launched himself on top of Dib, anger boiling in his squeedlyspooch, "You will _not_ assume that you know anything about me! Zim is no outlaw! The Tallest _will_ forgive him! That is no 'bounty hunter,' and Zim is most certainly _not_ defective! Now quiet your human mouth this instant before I rip your organs out!"

He shoved Dib back into the seat, and climbed off, rage bubbling in his chest and up into his throat.

The ship remained silent after that. Zim's mind replayed the previous argument over and over again. Dib didn't know how he felt! Nobody knew how Zim felt. Sometimes…not even Zim knew how he felt.

 _Was_ he scared? He didn't know. He wasn't particularly good when it came to feelings. And he couldn't _really_ be defective, could he? No. He couldn't be. He was a prized invader. The Irken Empire would always praise him. Why would they not?

He shook these confusing thoughts from his mind. He would prove himself to the Tallest. He had to.

* * *

 _((Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even it was a bit short._

 _I feel that I rushed this one a little bit. Or maybe I just feel that way because it's short, haha._

 _Anyways, it seems that Zim is starting to feel emotionally confused :0 I wonder how that could turn out :))_

 _There's a Steven Universe reference in this chapter. I wonder if anyone can find it? :)_

 _Also, I was planning for a long time to have the grocery store fiasco I mentioned in this chapter to have its own individual chapter...but I had no clue how to go about it. There was a lack of ideas...so it never happened. pfffft._

 _One more thing...for real this time...I don't know when the next update will be. I'm going on vacation next week, and after that my swim season is starting...and then school! So I'll be a bit busy. I haven't even started the next chapter yet. I'm behind my original schedule on this fic. Don't think I've given up on this though. Updates will come._

 _In the mean time, I hope you liked this chapter! As always, leave a review, and I hope you have a great day!))_


	10. A Mind Stimulating Activity

It stayed quiet in the Voot for a long time after they'd been attacked. Dib was lost in thought about the strange irken, wondering just how Zim could ignore it. He was growing increasingly frustrated at having to travel with someone who wouldn't even mention the fact that they were criminals being chased by some insane irken in a mask. Dib wanted to make a plan to help them avoid more problems, but Zim was having nothing of it. The irken had blown up at him at the mere mention of a possible bounty hunter, adding onto the list of things Zim refused to talk about. Being ruled defective, being one of the number one wanted criminals, being chased by a helmeted irken, he refused to talk about anything. Dib was finding the lack of communication extremely infuriating, and he was reaching his limit. He already hated Zim enough, but this was making it even harder to bear him.

The silence was only broken after a strange chugging noise developed towards the back end of the ship. Dib looked to Zim, who appeared to be spacing out at the time. When he came to, he quickly turned to Dib as if to say "What are you looking at?!" but quickly seemed to notice the noise. Zim frowned and pulled up a monitor.

"What?!" Zim leaned into the monitor, wide-eyed.

"What?!" Dib asked. He moved over to look at the monitor as well.

"Nothing!" Zim pushed him away, "Everything's fine!"

Dib pushed Zim back, reading the monitor for himself. The writing was in Irken, but he'd observed the written language enough to make out a few words. He conveniently managed to translate the words "engine" and "failure."

"What?!" Dib gasped, "But how?! Zim, you said we'd still be able to make it home after the damage we'd taken!"

"We would have," Zim replied. He swiped his hand over the top of the monitor, and it disappeared, "but the damage has spread."

"How?! Zim, please, your dumb ship probably just saw it wrong the first time!"

"No! You idiotic human," Zim growled "Vortian slaves have recently been testing new military weapons. One type of plasma they've created has the diabolical ability to spread damage beyond its original area of impact. That irken must have had a perfected version of that plasma in their gun, and it's implanted a sort of virus into the Voot that's caused the engine to fail," he explained.

"Whoa, Cool!"

"Fool! Despite the amazingly impressive technology the Irken Empire wields, I can assure you that this is a serious situation, Dib-human. There is nothing 'cool,' as you call it, about spontaneously combusting in the void of space! We'll fail to make it back to Earth under these conditions! My mission will be in jeopardy!"

Before Dib could respond, Zim was already turning off autopilot to control the Voot himself. He waved his hand over the dashboard, where a new screen displaying a list of planets appeared. He selected one of the planets in the middle of the list and changed their direction. Following a short list of instructions on the screen, he directed them toward this new planet.

* * *

The Voot came to a stop, its engine sighing as it did so. Zim turned off the engine and leapt out onto the cement below. Dib took a quick look around the planet before he got out. Each store was some sort of hardware store or mechanic. The entire planet was coated in ugly, gray cement. It was definitely the definition of a concrete jungle. Telephone wires buzzed overhead, making the scene twice as foul. Looking in the shop windows, he saw big, muscular, grumpy looking aliens standing at the counters, with small, terrified looking customers seeking help.

"Where are we?" Dib asked, swinging his backpack around his shoulder as he crawled out of the voot.

"I need to purchase some supplies to restore the Voot to its former glory. We'll be back to Earth in no time!" Zim explained, crossing from the parking area to a nearby shop.

"Uh, Zim, I don't think that's such a good idea," Dib looked around nervously, "Are you forgetting that we were just chased by come crazy irken in a mask?!"

Zim ignored him, disappearing through the shop door. Dib groaned, running his hand through his hair. Traveling with the irken was such a chore. Taking a deep breath, he followed Zim inside.

Inside, Zim searched the shelves for a moment but was seemingly unable to find what he was looking for. He frowned and turned toward the front desk. There was a long line, but Zim was not reluctant to butt in front of everybody. Dib stood by the door, debating on whether or not he should stop the irken.

"What do you think you're doin'," asked the alien working the cash register.

"Zim receives help!" he exclaimed loudly. The alien in line behind him scoffed. Zim continued, "I am in need of supplies to repair my ship!"

"You'll have to wait in line, just like everyone else." the cashier leaned over the counter intimidatingly.

"What?!" Zim looked appalled at the idea, "Zim is an invader!"

"So?" The cashier narrowed his eyes.

"I shouldn't have to wait for these imbeciles!" Zim gestured towards the others in line. Loud gasps rang throughout the store, "They are nothing next to Zim!"

The cashier's face fell into a scowl. He made his way around the counter and grabbed Zim by the antennae. Zim cried out in pain. In between wails, he demanded to be let go, but with no prevail. The cashier alien threw Zim through the glass window, and he landed on the street outside.

Zim got to his feet with a grimace. He wiped off his uniform and frowned, looking into the shop with displeasure in his eyes, "You will regret the rejection of Zim!" he shouted into the shop. He turned away, entering the next shop. Dib reached out to grab Zim and take him back to the Voot, but was too late. Dib let out an exasperated sigh. They couldn't afford to have Zim wait for a store owner to be patient enough to deal with him. Dib's mind reminded him that there would be no return home without repairs to the Voot, and he followed Zim into the store.

Inside, a small, kind looking alien stood at the counter. He appeared to be incredibly old. His orange skin was saggy and wrinkly, and he squinted so hard that his eyeballs could barely be seen. He stood behind the counter, intently watching Zim wander about the shop with hopefulness in his eyes that was hard to miss despite the squinting.

A few tires lined the walls, which was bizarre to Dib. He hadn't seen a tire since before he'd left Earth. Did aliens even use tires? He didn't know.

Tires were apparently all the shop sold, as the rest of the walls were blank except for a few advertisements for ship repairs. It reminded Dib a lot of a store one would see on Earth. Zim was blankly staring at one of the posters.

"May I help you with something?" the old man asked in a faint, raspy voice.

"Hm?" Zim turned to look at the man, a look of confusion on his face. Apparently, Zim hadn't noticed the store owner before, "Oh! I am Zim!" he resumed with his shopping.

The old man smiled, "Well, how may I help you, Zim?"

Zim withdrew his attention from his shopping again. He looked annoyed by the old alien.

"Zim seeks supplies to repair his ship!" he informed the old man.

"Oh, well, I don't sell supplies," the old man explained, "But I could fix up your ship myself if you'd like!" he gave a kindhearted smile.

"No one touches Zim's ship!" Zim declared. Without a second thought, Zim marched towards the exit. However, the old man stopped the irken at the door before he could leave.

"Wait!" he cried, "I'll give you a discount!" he looked hopeful.

"No one!"

Zim marched out of the store and down the sidewalk. Dib stayed in the shop, watching him. Zim passed a "WANTED" sign with his own picture on it. As he passed, two aliens noticed, and began to chase after him. After a brief chase scene, Zim was back in the old man's mechanic shop.

"Zim will allow you to fix his ship in return for a hiding place." Zim explained, "I'm being threatened by a menacing pair of thugs! You see, I am a prized invader who lives a life of publicity. One should feel honored to be offered the job of fixing my ship!"

"That's...great!" said the old man with a forced smile. He obviously only cared about the business, "You can hide in the backroom if you'd like!" he pointed to a door behind the counter, "I won't let anyone back there."

Zim marched towards the back room, disappearing behind the door. The old man looked confused.

"Which ship am I fixing?" he asked Dib.

Dib pointed to the Voot, which remained parked just outside of the shop. The old man looked baffled.

"A Voot Cruiser?! Why, I haven't seen one of those in years! Is he an antique ship collector?"

Dib shrugged, a look of confusion on his face.

"Well, either way, I'll do the best I can." He gave a wink, "The name's Baz, by the way. Just holler if you need me!"

With that, Baz disappeared through a gray door into his workshop, whistling along the way. Dib stood in the lobby for a moment before he went to join Zim in the backroom.

The backroom was small. A workbench stood against the wall. A few of Baz's own tools sat on top of it. There were a few seats around the room; a red stool, a bean bag chair, and a saggy couch. Several posters with different models of ships lined the walls. A mini-fridge sat in the corner. A microwave was placed on top of it. The room was lit with a humming, white light. Every now and then the light would slightly flicker, but not enough to be annoying.

Zim took a seat at the stool, observing the tools at the workbench. Dib sat in the bean bag chair, watching him.

"He did too have supplies!" Zim was distraught, holding up a red wrench for Dib to see, "That fool lied to me! He lied to Zim!"

"No, he didn't," Dib said matter-of-factly, "He said he didn't have any for sale."

"Well, he should have let me use his!"

"Technically, He doesn't have to do _anything_ , Zim."

"He has to obey the superior species!"

"He has to obey the defective outlaw?" Dib asked smugly, cocking his head with a smirk. Zim whirled around at him, fire in his eyes and his face flushed green. He spent a moment trying to create a comeback, but could evidently only spit out exasperated noises.

"Be quiet!" Zim finally sputtered. He crossed his arms and looked away. Dib laughed mockingly. However, he had to admit that perhaps his comment was a bit uncalled for.

"Look, Zim," Dib began to explain, "If Baz let everyone use his personal tools, then he wouldn't have any ships left to fix."

"Forget everyone else! I'm the only person he needs to lend his tools to!" he looked extremely flustered.

"No exceptions," Dib shrugged.

"Whatever," Zim pooh-poohed, "These tools are primitive, anyways," Zim tossed a wrench back onto the workbench as he hopped off of the stool, "I'm too amazing," he finished quietly, flopping onto the couch. Dib rolled his eyes.

Zim and Dib sat in silence for a considerably long amount of time. The light overhead buzzed loudly, and Dib concentrated on the noise for a while. After he'd had his fill of this, he decided that sitting in an old mechanic's backroom wasn't as entertaining as sitting in an alien spaceship, watching the stars pass by. Dib was finding himself becoming bored. He glanced over at Zim, who stared at the ceiling with a stolid expression and concluded that the irken was bored as well.

Dib laid back in his chair. As he stared at the ceiling, he noticed how much his body was yearning for sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept, now that he'd thought of it. He'd drifted off a little a few times on the trip, but he found it difficult to sleep in the moving Voot Cruiser. He thought about how nice it must have been to be Zim. Dib had concluded that the irken didn't need sleep. He'd never shown signs of being fatigued or tired, unlike Dib, who had the lack of rest catching up with him. The humming of the light overhead was lulling him to sleep. Dib found his eyes getting heavier and heavier until he suddenly found himself waking up to Zim standing over him. He jumped out of the bean bag chair, startled.

"Zim!" he rubbed his eyes, "What the heck are you doing?"

"I'm experiencing feelings of boredom due to the lack of activity in this room," Zim announced.

"Well what do you expect me to do about it?"

"I don't know," Zim took a seat back on the couch, "you humans enjoy wasting your lives away with pointless activities. I thought you might have an idea for a mind stimulating activity that might help pass the time."

Dib blinked, "You mean like a game?"

"Ha!" Zim laughed, "I haven't played a 'game' since I was mere smeet. I would never indulge in such an infantile idea!"

"Hey, it was _your_ idea," Dib shrugged, falling forward face-first onto the beanbag chair once again.

"I suggested the idea of a _mind stimulating activity_ , not a...a _game_."

"Of course," Dib rolled his eyes, "and what kind of ' _mind stimulating activity_ ' are you interested in, Zim?"

Zim shrugged, "Certainly your big head has some sort of idea, no?"

Dib groaned, "I don't know, Zim," he ran his hands through his hair, "I spy?" he suggested. It was the first thing that came to mind.

"Ah, yes! And how does one immerse themselves in this activity of...I spy?"

Dib sat up. Of course Zim didn't know how to play I spy. He was an alien. He would have to explain it.

"Well…" Dib began. But he stopped, remembering that he was in the presence of an alien invader who would stop at nothing to complete his mission, even when his leaders wanted him dead. He looked at Zim skeptically, "wait, how am I supposed to know you won't use this in one of your evil plans?"

"I've already tried using your brainless human games to help assist in my conquest. If your memory is functioning correctly, you would remember that utilizing the game of 'Simon Says' to aid in my mission was a failure." Zim reminded him.

Dib remembered that time very well. He supposed that was good enough. Zim seemed to enjoy getting creative; he had never had two similar ideas. He hesitated, but continued explaining the game,

"Okay," Dib began, "One person has to describe something in the room, and the other person has to figure out what it is."

"A primitive concept," Zim muttered, scratching his head. He seemed to say it more for himself than anything else. He turned his attention back to Dib, "Very well, I shall try." he said. He seemed to understand. However, Dib had his doubts.

"I'll start," Dib offered. He looked around the room. His eyes landed on the red wrench Zim had been upset about earlier, "I spy something red."

Zim looked confused, "now what?" he asked.

"Now you tell me what I'm looking at."

"Well how am I supposed to do that?!"

Dib stared back at Zim, feeling frustrated. Indeed, Zim had not understood the game like he said he did.

"Guess, Zim," he finally said in an aggravated tone, "you're supposed to guess."

"Ah, I see," Zim looked around. He appeared to be thinking very hard, "You spy the stool."

"Nope," Dib replied. Zim looked infuriated.

"Fool! Zim has won! You said you spotted a red object; that stool is red!" Zim tried to explain.

"No, Zim," Dib facepalmed, "just because the stool is red doesn't mean that's what I was looking at."

"Liar!" Zim jumped to his feet intimidatingly.

"Okay, okay," Dib held up his hands in surrender. It wasn't worth his time to argue, "good job Zim, you got me."

Zim sat back down. Dib looked to the wall and rolled his eyes, laying back in his chair.

"Do I get to pick now?"

Dib looked over. Zim was looking at him expectantly.

"Oh, yeah, sure."

Zim looked around the room before giving Dib his clue, "I spy the stool."

"Um," Dib paused, wondering if he had heard Zim correctly, "is it…the stool?"

Zim's brow furrowed, "No!" he crossed his arms and sank back into his chair, pouting. Dib let out a snort, the ends of his mouth forming a half smile out of pity. The alien tried so hard. It was amusing sometimes. Dib decided not to push the subject further.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang outside of the room. Both Zim and Dib sat straight up in their seats, looking at the door. Zim looked to Dib as if to ask "what was that?"

Baz's voice could be heard outside the door. He sounded angry. Another loud bang sounded, and then silence. Dib got to his feet and slowly edged towards the door. When he reached it, he rested his hand on the doorknob and paused. He looked back to Zim, who was watching intently with eyes wide and antennae alert.

Dib twisted the doorknob, and pulled the door open slowly, peering into the main shop as he did so. All of a sudden, he was thrown back with a great force that knocked the door off of its hinges. He smacked against the opposite wall, crumpling onto the floor next to his bag.

When Dib looked up, a familiar figure had entered the room; the attacker from the forest planet.

The wall had collapsed with the door, and dust from the white plaster engulfed the room. Dib assumed this had been a result of the attacker's gun. As the dust filtered out, the attacker looked around. First, they located Dib on the floor, who quickly went limp, pretending to be unconscious. They glanced away, focusing on Zim.

Dib watched as the attacker approached a cowering Zim. Quickly, they grabbed Zim by the collar and pinned him against the wall. Slowly, they pulled out their gun and held it to Zim's head. He panicked, trying to break free without success.

" _Don't. Move!_ " The attacker said. Their voice was surprisingly robotic. Dib suspected their voice was going through a filter to create this effect. They pulled their gun away and pressed down on a button on the side of their helmet, "I've got them. Send the Armada." They released the button and held the gun back to Zim's head.

Dib's eyes widened, and he scrambled to open his bag next to him. He hurried as he rummaged through the bag, and pulled out the water gun filled with bird bath water he had packed. Hands shaking, he pointed it at the attacker and pulled the plastic trigger. A stream of brownish water shot from the tip and landed on the attacker's helmet.

At first, it looked like it had had no effect, but after a moment, the water slipped down their helmet and found a way to their skin by soaking through their fabric collar. Steam began to rise from the attacker's body and they yelled out in pain. They released Zim, and he dropped to the floor. The attacker grabbed at their neck to try and keep the wet fabric from touching their skin, but only got their gloves wet in the process. Dib shot the rest of the water at them in hopes to stall them for longer. It managed to get their collar more wet, and they fell to their knees, continuing to tug at their collar in failed attempts to make the burning stop.

Zim laughed at the attacker, "Ha!" he pointed a finger, "Yes! Pay the price for attacking Zim!"

Dib hopped to his feet and ran, grabbing Zim by the wrist as he did so. He pulled the alien towards the exit, leaving the attacker to be bothered by their burning skin.

As the two exited the room, they found Baz's shop in shambles, and small chunks of wall continued to fall from their place every few seconds as the Vortian plasma took its effect. The front wall had been blown in, allowing the entire world outside to look into the shop. A crowd was forming outside. A few dozen aliens peered into what used to be Baz's mechanic shop, concern on their faces. When Zim and Dib stepped into view, they stepped back in fear, unsure of what was happening.

Zim and Dib hurried towards Baz's workshop, but were met with an unpleasant surprise along the way. The elderly alien laid limp on the floor behind the counter, a pool of blood forming around his body. Dib felt sick. He must have tried to fight the attacker for them, but was killed by their gun in the process. That explained the commotion they'd heard.

Zim moved on without a word. Dib stood over the mechanic's body, his stomach churning. He was forced to move on as well when he heard a noise, and turned around to see the bounty hunter stumbling out of the backroom. Dib quickly chased after Zim, who was hurrying through the door to Baz's workshop. Before he entered, he turned back to the elderly alien's dead body.

"Thanks," he whispered. He shut the door behind him.

* * *

Zim turned on the ignition, and the Voot Cruiser closed. The next thing Dib knew, they were lifting off again. As they rose into the sky of the mechanic planet, Dib turned around. The attacker was standing in the chaos that had used to be Baz's shop. They looked up at the Voot runner, legs apart, gun in their hand at their side, breathing heavily. Dib could feel the anger radiating off of them, even as far away as he was.

Dib turned away, eyes wide. He took a deep breath. Neither he nor Zim had said anything yet. He turned to the alien, who watched the space ahead of them. He was driving the Voot, and hadn't set it into autopilot yet. There was an unsmiling look on his face. His mouth was straight across.

"Now will you agree with me that that insane person is after us?!" Dib asked in an "I told you so" tone.

Zim did not respond.

* * *

 _((_ _ **A/N:**_ _Hi everybody! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!_

 _I suppose I owe everyone an explanation as to why I've been gone so long. To sum it up, my computer broke. And when I say that, I mean it was totally dead and unable to ever turn on ever again. Now, of course, that computer was the only place I had saved all the plans to this fanfic. I'm talking the plans for every single event of every chapter, as well as all the final drafts of the first nine chapters were completely gone. Really, this was a mistake on my part for not saving those things elsewhere._

 _So we ordered a new computer, and then we didn't have Microsoft Word, which I normally use. So then I kind of put this fic off for a while I waited for Word (which I still don't have, lol) and juggled a busy schedule. But then I got sick of sitting around and just opened a google docs document and planned the whole thing again, and then got to work on this chapter. So now, I'm testing out the copy and paste feature in hopes that this posts smoothly._

 _So yeah, updates should become as frequent as possible again. Yay! I'm sorry for my absence. This is a family computer I'm using, so really the whole Word thing is up to my parents and when they would like to download it, which is why I didn't get to it right away. I'm sorry it's been so long, you guys. I've said that in basically every chapter before this, but this time I am extra sincere. I've been working on this constantly for the last 2 or 3 weeks to pull everything back together. It's been a lot of fun._

 _Anyways, I really hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. It's extra long this time. Hopefully, it makes up for the absence. It was a lot of fun to write. The "I spy" scene was a little tricky, but overall I'm proud of it. I feel that Dib is a little out of character throughout the chapter, but I ran it through my friend Amanda, and she said he was alright. So, I took her word for it, and now this fic is officially back in business!_

 _Thanks again everyone, and so sorry again for the hiatus. I hope you have a lovely, fantastic day!))_


	11. The Cave

Dib jumped as Zim hit the control panel with excessive force, trying to get it to work again. It had failed along with the majority of the ship's functions. The only systems properly functioning anymore were the emergency safety systems, the steering, and the engine, which was just barely getting along. With every minute that passed, the engine became louder, and they went slower and slower. Every minute the vast void of space threatened to penetrate the already breaking walls of the Voot Cruiser and a feeling of hopelessness washed over as they continued on slowly past glittering stars.

As the Voot continued to malfunction, the environment inside had changed drastically. Not that it was super exciting and upbeat to begin with. Before, it had been safe. But it had turned dim and dark. The heating system was giving out, and it had become cold, and eerily quiet. The only sounds were the occasional frustrated grumbles from Zim and the increasing groans of the failing engine.

It was evident that in the time Baz had spent with the Voot, he hadn't been able to make a dent on the damage the vortian plasma had created. However, Dib wasn't angry with the elderly alien. Baz had died in an attempt to protect them. That was enough.

Zim, on the other hand, was greatly agitated. He kept making comments about how unhelpful the mechanic had been.

"I cannot _believe_ I put my trust into that….cretin! Rgh!" Zim exclaimed, waving angry fists around.

"He saved our butts back there, y'know," Dib reminded him with a disapproving look.

"Silence!" Zim demanded, refusing to listen. He observed the ship's controls and stood on his seat. However, the ceiling was too low, and he bumped his head. He muttered an angry comment about the ceiling being an imbecile while rubbing his head in pain, and then kneeled instead. He locked his fingers into a fist and held them above his head. With a smirk on his face, he brought his fists back down, striking the control panel with a great force in an attempt to get it working again.

The lights inside the panel began to flicker. Zim's antennae perked, and Dib sat up in his seat. It stopped, and the Voot plunged back into its sorry state of hopelessness. Dib laid back in his seat with a disappointed sigh. Zim bared his teeth, and continued to strike the control panel in an exasperated fit of aggravation and rage.

Dib rolled his eyes as he watched the child-like behavior unfold, and he raised his eyebrows in amusement. But things suddenly weren't so funny once he realized the red, flashing lights. He felt the blood rush from his face, and looked to Zim, who was still going to town on the control panel.

"Uh, Zim?" Dib said quietly.

"I said silence!" Zim demanded, whirling around at Dib. Before he could continue speaking, he seemed to notice the problem, and his antennae perked back up again as his face turned to an expression of worry.

"CRITICAL CONDITION: ENGINE DAMAGE. TWO MINUTES UNTIL ENTIRE SYSTEM SHUTDOWN," boomed a loud, computerized voice. Zim squealed, and took the Voot's controls again.

Dib looked around the area outside of the Voot frantically, and spotted a particularly large planet in the near distance, "There!" he pointed.

In a panic, Zim steered the Voot in the planet's direction, forcing it to go at an acceleration that it probably didn't have the energy for.

The engine roared louder, ear-splitting clicks and groans causing Dib to become even more anxious than he already was as he leaned forward in his seat, desperately hoping that they would be able to make it. They were so close.

As they neared the planet, the engine combusted. Dib heard Zim let out a panicked yell as he lost control, and they were sent spinning into the planet's atmosphere, tumbling around the inside of the Voot, shrieking as they hit the walls.

While he crashed around the inside of the Voot, Dib caught a quick glimpse at the planet's surface. In between wispy clouds, he spotted colors of lavender and green, but couldn't tell from their great height what types of terrains these might be. He momentarily hoped the planet had an acceptable environment as he realized he had no clue what type of atmosphere he was entering. He didn't have much time to focus on this, as it had gotten noticeably warmer in the Voot as it began to enter the atmosphere. He screamed as the outer shell began to cripple and melt away, and watched numerous wall panels disappear before his eyes. The Voot was shaking, and wind screamed as they soared through the air.

"Zim!" he cried, "What do we do?!"

He didn't get a response. Zim was screaming at the top of his lungs as the forces from their fall pushed him against the seat.

Suddenly, Dib felt gravity pull on them harder, and his stomach rose into his throat. He joined Zim in the scream-fest as they free-fell through the air.

Dib could only watch as they were sent crashing onto the planet's surface, barrelling through a dense forest until they were propped up against a tall, lavender mountain. Upon impact, Dib felt his body bruising, and his head hit the Voot's wall, hard.

In shock, Dib laid where he was, his eyes wide. Adrenaline was coursing through his body, and he could hear his heart beating in his ears. Breathing heavily, he sat up, placing a hand on his head, which was throbbing.

His vision blurring, he located Zim, who had already gotten to his feet, and was examining the damage outside of the ship.

"My ship!" Zim cried, his hands clapping over his mouth, "I _knew_ this would happen! I should never have let that fool examine it!"

With the previous events replaying in Dib's mind, he laid his head back against the seat and passed out.

* * *

The planet they were stranded on was much like Earth. However, it had its differences. There was no intelligent life around as far as Dib could tell. It was fairly cold, and the wind only made it worse, shaking the foreign looking trees that grew from purple dirt. The forest terrain suddenly transformed into a long, tall mountain chain, which was where they'd taken shelter after coincidentally landing next to a small cave. Few clouds flew by overhead, making for a starry night. Much to Dib's fascination, there were two moons in the night sky, although this didn't make the fact that they were stranded there any more appealing to the human.

Dib added a log to their small fire, the sides of his mouth pulling into a frown. His head still hurt, and he was walking with a limp. His neck ached as well, which was rather concerning.

When he'd come to, Zim was still fretting over the voot, which had surely kicked the bucket. The already cold planet's sun had been falling, so Dib had immediately put himself to building a fire, since Zim obviously wasn't going to do it.

"Aren't you cold? I built a fire!" Dib called outside as he placed the last of the wood over the burning embers.

"I need no fire!" Zim yelled back.

"It's cold!"

"No cold can defeat the incredible being that is Zim!"

"Stupid," Dib mumbled to himself. He sat by his little fire, facing the cave's mouth, feeling the heat from the warm flames on his face as they licked the logs. He watched the strange, alien trees dance with the wind. White moonlight bounced off their branches and into the cave.

It was only about five minutes before Zim came to join him, angrily grumbling to himself, "This is hogwash! Hogwash! How am I supposed to take over Earth now?!" the irken complained, kicking some dirt into the fire.

Dib's looked up at him with a raised brow. "Are you _really_ worried about your dumb mission at a time like this?!" Dib wondered if Zim forgot that they were stranded on a freezing cold planet with little water nearby and no known food sources.

Zim looked up at him. "But of course! Why wouldn't I be?!"

Dib remembered the very beginning of their travels. Zim had reacted in exactly the same way. Nothing was about the bounty hunter, or him being ruled defective, or even about the fact that they were sitting on a remote planet somewhere in the middle of the universe with no help nearby, and no way to leave. All that mattered to Zim was his mission. That was terrifying to Dib.

"Shouldn't you be worried about the empire?!" Dib asked.

"Why would I be worried about my own people?"

Dib took a moment to respond, letting Zim's sentence sink in. Once it did, he finally lashed out. "Because they're trying to have you killed!"

"You speak of nonsense." Zim sighed, "I don't recall a single time where that has happened."

Zim's excuses were continually inconsistent. Dib pulled his hair. "What about that time an irken held a gun to your _head,_ Zim!"

Zim's eyes narrowed, "It's time to stop with the lies, Dib. You can't fool the greatness that is Zim."

Dib hopped to his feet. He had reached his limit, "Zim, would you stop!? You can't deny this forever! We need to talk about how we're gonna get back home!"

Zim's antennae hung low, "Everything is fine, Dib, I can assure you that Zim has everything under control," he said, visibly annoyed.

"No, you don't!" Dib took a step forward. "You don't have _anything_ under control!"

"Everything is _fine_ ," Zim started yelling, "you don't know what you're talking about!"

"I know that you were ruled defective!"

Zim's head sank so that Dib couldn't see his face, "I was _not!_ "

"Yes, you were!" Dib was screaming, seething with rage, "Why else would you have been up on that stage?! Huh, Zim, huh?!"

Zim spoke lowly, "We've been over this before, Dib-worm, I-"

"Don't. Lie." Dib said between clenched teeth.

Zim glared up at him with an intense gaze, unresponsive. The fire left an orange glow on his face, reflecting in his eyes "I am _not_ defective," he finally replied defensively.

"Yes, you are, Zim!" Dib leaned forward.

"I am _not!"_ Zim screamed, getting to his feet. His fists were clenched, and he was shaking, "I am _not!"_ his voice cracked, and he turned away.

"Would you just admit it, Zim?!" Dib grabbed at Zim's arm and forced the alien to look back at him.

Zim shook his arm free and looked Dib in the face, "What, Dib? Admit that I'm a failure? That I'm useful for _nothing?! No! I am normal!_ "

Dib didn't respond.

"I am _not_ defective." Zim looked down, "The whole reason I went to your stupid planet in the first place was to show them that I am _normal_!"

"Who?"

"The Tallest!" Zim snapped, looking back up at him. He turned away and sat at the entrance of their cave, his back to Dib. He crossed his arms and brought his knees to his chest. Dib didn't say anything back. For once, he was seeing something in Zim that he hadn't before; himself.

For his entire life, Dib had been trying to show his people the truth. For his entire life, Dib had struggled to show his people that he wasn't crazy! But no one ever listened to him. No one cared. Finally, Dib was realizing that Zim was the same way. Everything he'd done on Earth was to please his leaders; to show them that he was worthy. All he wanted was to make their recognition; just like Dib wanted. In this moment, Dib almost felt sorry for him.

* * *

 _Dib is a fool,_ he told himself. He scooted away as the human boy sat next to him.

He was livid. His chest was on fire, and a hard lump had formed in his throat. His eyes felt hot, so he blinked the feeling away. He could feel his body quivering with anger, on the verge of a breakdown. This made him even angrier, and he forced his shaking muscles still until they stayed that way.

He was failing them. He was failing the leaders he wanted nothing more than to impress. He'd done everything in his power to be the best invader he could be for them, yet he could always taste their disinterest in his accomplishments. It seemed that for every right, he could feel a million wrongs. So, he'd sent himself into a constant loop of trying to impress them, not being satisfied, and trying again.

When he would do something wrong, or undesirable, he would repress that failure until it didn't matter. Along with this, every feeling of inadequateness, anxiety, and fear that had come with said failure would be reduced into nothingness. Zim was constantly letting these feelings incubate inside him, never letting them emerge, because that failure never really happened, right? What was Dib talking about? It wasn't real.

Dib had begun to put a dent in Zim's denial. He couldn't think straight anymore; he couldn't think like Zim! Dib had gotten into his head. Zim hated him with his entire being. He had made Zim look weak. He had brought out every emotion that Zim had tried so hard to suppress. He'd brought out every feeling of loneliness, fear, anger, and anxiety; every feeling he wanted gone. These feelings were nameless to Zim by now. He didn't understand what they meant anymore.

With this sudden, unplanned adventure, everything had become so real. Zim didn't know how to deal with that. All he knew was that he had to prove himself, so that's exactly what he was focusing on. All Zim knew was that he was failing the Tallest; and Zim was terrified of failure.

"Well," Dib began, standing up and brushing the dirt off his pants, "I'm going to sleep."

Zim broke from his thoughts, " _Why?_ " he replied irritably.

"Can you think of anything better to do? It's not like either of us has any idea on how to get out of here."

Zim thought for a moment, "What if I leave while you're in your human state of slumber?"

"You can't." Dib said, "Look, I'm tired, Zim, and it's not like you can go anywhere. If you leave this cave, you'll get cold and come back within ten minutes."

"And what if I kill you?" Zim suggested. He desperately wanted to.

"What good would that do you?"

Zim frowned.

"You need me, anyways." Dib shrugged, crossing the cave.

"No I don't!" Zim denied.

"Can you build a fire?" Dib raised a brow. Zim didn't answer. He _didn't_ know how to build a fire. It was a primitive skill. He crossed his arms and leaned his back against the cave wall, pouting.

Dib laid his Earth bag on the ground next to the fire. He put his head down on it, and the rest of his body on the ground. He closed his eyes. Zim watched him with a choleric expression. "Well what am I supposed to do?"

"I dunno." Dib opened an eye, "Can you sleep?"

Zim was disgusted at the thought. He'd never slept before. It sounded awful. Some irkens did it for leisure, but Zim saw it as a waste of time.

"Of course I can," Zim replied, "but I don't."

"You could try it," Dib said, closing his eyes again.

"Revolting," Zim scoffed. He turned, rolling his head back onto the cave wall.

"Whatever," Dib said with a sigh.

Time passed slowly. A group of clouds rolled in, and it began to rain. Zim moved away uncomfortably. Occasionally, Zim would glance in Dib's way and let out a long groan, wondering how on Irk humans enjoyed sleeping. After a while of sighing, Dib scolded him for this and told him to 'shut up.'

Zim listened to Dib's requests for a while, but soon found himself bored again, and groaned again, louder this time, "How long is this going to take you?!"

Dib didn't respond. Zim assumed he'd entered his slumber mode. He groaned again, falling back onto the cave floor with his arms and legs sprawled out.

The sounds of the rain were disturbing to him. He tuned out the noises, but could still see it out of the corners of his eyes, so he closed them.

* * *

" _Zim!"_

 _He sat up, looking around. The cave was empty, and the rain had subdued. It was calm outside, but the usual chill in the air remained._

 _Someone touched him from behind, "Boo!"_

 _Zim screamed, whirling around. Before him stood the Tallest, who towered over him, looking angry. Zim got to his feet excitedly._

" _My Tallest!" Zim grinned, "Allow me to explain myself. I've meant not to disappoint you. You see, the Dib human-"_

 _They started laughing. Zim's smile faltered a bit, but then he figured they were laughing WITH him, "Heh, yes, I suppose it is a jocular matter."_

 _They continued laughing. Zim felt his antennae lower in confusion. He felt himself shrinking where he stood, "M-my Tallest?"_

 _Suddenly, the cave floor collapsed beneath him, and he fell through inky darkness, screaming._

 _He landed on a hard, metal surface. Everywhere around him was black; the floors, the walls, the ceiling. It was all a continuous black void._

 _Getting to his feet, Zim was blinded by a bright light. Shading his eyes, he looked up at a big screen. It showed his face, and he squinted up at it. As his eyes finally focused, the word "DEFECTIVE" flashed big and red across the screen._

 _Zim felt his squeedlyspooch drop in terror. He looked up and found the Tallest floating down towards him, continuing to laugh. Their hands were hidden behind their backs._

" _Wow, Zim!" Tallest Purple said, wiping tears from his eyes, "You really are a failure!"_

 _Tallest Red's mouth curled into a malicious grin. He brought his hands out from behind his back and showed off 6 long, sharp claws. Tallest Purple copied this behavior and joined Tallest Red in approaching Zim from above. Slowly, they inched closer. Zim pleaded for them to spare him._

" _No!" Zim cried, "My Tallest, you can't! Are you forgetting how great I am?!"_

 _They launched at him, and everything went black._

* * *

" _No_!" Zim screamed, his eyes popping open. He sat straight up, breathing heavily. Scanning the cave frantically, he found that he was still alone with Dib, who stirred in his sleep.

Eyes wide, he sat up and covered his temples with his hands. He let out a deep breath knowing that he could still earn the Tallest's forgiveness. It wasn't the end yet. However, his heart was still pounding ferociously.

Zim noticed how sweaty he was, and wiped the secretion from his forehead. His head felt foggy, and his eyes burned from what he assumed was sleeping. However, he wasn't sure, as he'd never experienced the event prior.

It was still raining. It had gotten heavier. Fat raindrops fell from the sky in a steady stream.

Zim was cold. He scooted toward the dying fire, anxiety still plaguing his body. His entire being felt heavy, and he promised himself that he would never sleep again. It had been a foolish mistake. He stared into the fire, sleep still tugging on his eyelids, and focused on the fading embers and the way they glowed.

There was the sound of a foot scraping the ground. He looked outside the cave to see a familiar silhouette standing at the structure's entrance.

"You again?!" Zim stood up, glaring in the bounty hunter's direction. They were dripping wet, standing eerily still, staring at him from across the cave. They didn't reply.

"Zim!" Dib sat up, angrily eyeing the irken,"Be qui-," He noticed the third being in the cave, "You again!" he pointed at them.

The bounty hunter reached for their gun, which hung at their side. Zim, frozen in place, watched Dib as he experienced a moment of brief panic, snatched up his backpack, and hurled it at them.

At the same time, they fired their gun in Dib's direction. He ducked out of the way of the Vortian plasma with a distressed grunt.

Almost in slow motion, the plasma flew past Dib and across the cave, hitting Zim instead.

* * *

 _((_ _ **A/N:**_ _Hey everyone! Happy late New Year!_

 _I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I put a lot of work into this one to try and get it how I envisioned while keeping it in character (like in every chapter. I suppose I just tried extra hard for this one). I fear that it may be a little bit emotional on Zim's side, but overall I'm pretty excited with how it came out. The little bean is having a rough week. Protect him._

 _Anyway, until next time! Please leave a review if you get the chance, and have a lovely day!_


	12. A Rescue?

" _OW!"_

The Vortian plasma hit him in the shoulder.

Zim was sent stumbling backward from the force of the impact. He grimaced, clutching his wound as his knees buckled, sending him to the ground.

Dib's eyes widened. He took an instinctive step in Zim's direction, unsure of what he would do. But he stopped upon remembering the third being in their presence, and slowly turned around to face the bounty hunter. Dib stood in a battle stance, with his legs wide and his arms out, ready to attack. The bounty hunter had their gun pointed directly at his face, ready to fire. They stood a good ten feet away from each other, but it appeared that the bounty hunter had Dib's fate resting in their hands.

Dib stayed as still as possible, contemplating what he could do. He heard Zim moving behind him. Whatever he was doing back there sounded pitiful. Neither the bounty hunter nor he paid any attention to the Irken, though. Neither could let their guard down without being attacked. All they could do was stare at eachother, letting the suspense build until one of them made the first move.

The Human searched his brain for options. His backpack, which could possibly have something he could use, had been discarded on the ground next to the Irken attacker. Dib thought again. He _could_ tackle the bounty hunter, he supposed, but that would most likely result in himself being shot. Another option was just waiting it out, but that was undesirable, as well. That could take hours, and chances told Dib that the bounty hunter wouldn't agree with the idea.

This left Dib out of ideas. He felt his stomach drop upon the realization that he was stuck. The bounty hunter could shoot him whenever they wanted, and he and Zim would be subjected to unimaginable fates.

In the middle of Dib's assessment of the situation, a sudden blue beam of light shot past Dib's face, clipping his ear. The Human fell to the ground in a panic, covering his head with a sharp yelp.

What had it come from? The bounty hunter hadn't fired. Dib glanced their way to find them frantically searching the area for the source of the sudden blue beams.

Blue light danced around their little cave, bouncing off the walls around Dib. Dib flinched as one rebounded off the ground next to him. He could hear Zim screaming in confusion and terror behind him as the cave was sent into a frenzy, blue beams lighting up the darkness. The ongoing rain pelted the ground outside, and shuffling feet could be heard scurrying around the cave. But suddenly, it all stopped.

Dib looked up, his eyes squinting. He shied away a few times out of fear that the coast wasn't as clear as it seemed before he realized that, no, it wasn't him who was in danger; it was the bounty hunter.

Four aliens, varying in appearance surrounded them, their own blasters (of which Dib assumed had been the source of the sudden lights) held to their faces, ready to shoot. The bounty hunter spun in circles, seeming to be in search of their exit. But there was none. They were stuck. These four alien rescuers could kill them at any time.

Dib looked these aliens up and down. One was brown, with a slender body and what looked like a clunkier version of an Irken PAK on his back. He was trembling. The second alien wore a purple hood over her head, the cloth draping over her entire body. Only her cerulean blue eyes were visible through the darkness that her hood cast over her.

The third rescuer was...strange looking. He had the body shape of an upside down cone. His face was plastered on a purple disc on the center of his body, and it looked as though his mouth was always stuck in a permanent, exaggerated smile.

The last of their rescuers had no head. His legs came together in a metal arch, arms coming out of the topmost part of this area on his body. There was a brain in a glass case hovering just over his head. It moved along with him.

These four. These four aliens had come to their rescue. Dib wondered who they were, and how they'd found he and Zim. Putting these questions aside, Dib realized that they could help. These aliens could get him and Zim out of their cave, or maybe even off the planet, or at least to some decent shelter. Dib felt hopeful again. After Zim's temper-tantrum, he'd started to feel lost, as it had seemed that they'd be stuck there forever.

Everything had slowed down. No one dared move a rescuers stared at their prey, looking ominous. The bounty hunter stood deathly still, gazing into the cloaked alien's eyes with a fierce look.

Suddenly, the brown one lowered his gun and spoke, "This was a terrible idea." he proclaimed, "Why did we go through with this?!"

The cloaked alien nudged his elbow without letting the bounty hunter leave her sight. The brown one slowly raised his blaster back up, his hands quivering ever so slightly.

"Prepare to fire," the cloaked one ordered. The others held their blasters closer. "On three...two-"

Without hesitation, the bounty hunter aimed their gun at the ceiling, holding their gaze with the cloaked alien. They fired. When the Vortian plasma hit the cave ceiling, lavender rock came raining down. The four aliens jumped back as the rock fell where the bounty hunter stood. Purple dust was sent billowing into the air. Dib couldn't see for a moment, coughing as he inhaled the dust. Finally, the dust cloud cleared. However, the bounty hunter was gone.

The rescuers stared blankly around the cave, looking confounded. However, they didn't waste another second. They turned to Dib and approached him with concern in their eyes.

"What is this?!" Zim cried, his voice slurring, "Who are you?!"

The rescuers stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of his voice, their eyes flooding with fear upon noticing the Irken. Dib followed their gaze and was rather mortified with what he found.

It was pitiful. Zim was looking unbelievably wan, his face a sickly shade of ashy-green. His limbs drooped weakly, and he trembled ever-so-slightly as his wound dripped light pink blood onto the ground, which pooled around him where he sat, gripping his injured shoulder. There was a glazed look in his eyes as he tried to stay focused on what was happening. Breathing audibly, he cowered away as the cloaked alien approached him cautiously.

"Who are you?!" he sat on his knees and attempted to smack her away, but used his bad arm. He yelled out in pain, grabbing at his trauma once again with a grimace. Dib rolled his eyes at the stupidity. Zim continued, "Get away from me!" he ordered.

Once arriving at Zim's side, the cloaked alien leaned over to inspect his shoulder. Her eyes scrunched as she observed, and she shifted her gaze to Zim.

"Ixane," the brown one said, "what is it?"

"It's fine, Spleenk," she replied with a cock of her head. She got to her feet with a grunt. "He's injured."

Unable to do much, Zim was staring up at her incoherently, glaring daggers at her through his confusion. His eyes narrowed slightly as she pulled out a pair of handcuffs; the same style that had been used on Dib back on Irk. Plasma, but effective.

"What are you-ou-" Zim stopped, looking like he was going to vomit. His breathing went shallow, and he began giving his good shoulder attention, as if it had begun hurting, too.

Dib was about to call him a baby when he remembered.

Vortian plasma.

The damage would spread everywhere in Zim's body before long.

Ixane removed Zim's hands from his injuries forcefully and enclosed them in the cuffs. She ordered him to his feet. When he Irken refused to comply, she forced pulled him to his feet. Immediately, he stumbled down again.

Dib looked to the ground, noting that Zim had lost a _lot_ of blood.

"Too weak to stand, I see." she said with a shake of her head.

"I ammmnot," Zim slurred. Albeit his clammy look, Zim seemed to take this as a challenge, and got to his feet himself, wearing a bilious expression. As he stood, his eyes fluttered as he teetered between consciousness and unconsciousness. Once on his feet, he shot a proud, but unwell look to Ixane before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, unconscious. Ixane leaned over, trying to get his attention, but with no results. She grabbed him under the armpits and turned to her companions. They stared back at her.

Ixane let out an amused breath, "Never mess with an Irken's ego," she said. She turned back to her companions "Cuff him, too!" Ixane ordered, gesturing to Dib, "He was with this fool, was he not?"

Dib was tackled by Spleenk and the other two. The next thing he knew, he'd been handcuffed, as well. Then, he was being shepherded out of he and Zim's cave. Spleenk and the other two rescuers continually tried to be intimidating, but failed miserably. They kept tripping over each other's feet, and couldn't decide who would hold Dib, who found himself constantly fluctuating between being intimidated by these aliens, and feeling as if he could escape with ease.

The rain had subdued, leaving the lavender soil a slippery mud as evidence that it had been there. A hazy fog hovered just over the ground as a cool wind whistled in the trees, nipping at Dib's ears as he exited the cave. Ixane was close behind, pulling Zim's unconscious body along with her across the mucky ground. The front of her cloak was covered with his blood.

Dib remembered his ear, and when he reached up a shackled hand to touch it, he felt that a small chunk was missing. It stung. He shuddered.

He and unconscious Zim were lead against their will through the sticky, purple mud until they reached a small, gray pod shaped like that of a teardrop that hovered silently over the ground. It was small, with one window for the driver to see out of. A hatch opened as they approached, and their captors had them enter first.

Inside, there was one bench. Across from it was a small control panel with one red button on it. Once he had entered the ship, the purple, cone-shaped alien crossed to it and waited for his companions to enter. After they had, Dib was instructed to sit on the bench. He complied, watching Ixane haul Zim's tiny, limp body on board to leave him lying on the floor.

When everyone was aboard the tiny pod, the cone alien pressed the red button. Immediately, the gray ship began to rise into the atmosphere. The captors turned away from the control panel to look at their prisoners. Their gazes awkwardly transferred between Dib and Zim, who was getting blood all over their floor.

The ascend began to slow. Dib leaned over to see out the window. Outside was a big, gray spaceship. Two wings faced forward rather than to the sides, and a spherical cannon hovered just underneath the ship's belly. As they approached, a hatch opened underneath the ship for their tiny pod to enter. It did, and their pod opened as it landed. Dib stood upon instruction. Spleenk lead him to the exit, the other three aliens taking to Zim.

Standing at the entryway of the pod, Dib found himself staring out at something he'd never thought he'd see. It was a docking bay. Aliens were left and right, attending to different tasks such as driving cargo around the bay on little cruisers, and tending to big machines that Dib did not know the purpose of. It was busy. It was loud. It was the opposite of the Irken Empire, with their orderly lines and carefully planned events. This place filled Dib with a strange pleasure that he couldn't explain. Spleenk politely told Dib to watch his step as he exited the pod. The Human did so.

But the second Dib stepped out of the pod and his feet hit the floor, it all stopped. It seemed that every face in the room turned to look at him, and then, bewilderment.

The aliens looked at each other with puzzled faces. Dib heard questions in the crowd, such as; "Who is that?" and "What is he?"

A ruckus sounded from inside the pod. Dib looked up to Spleenk, who stood next to him, with a nervous smile. Spleenk returned the expression, although his smile was genuine.

Dib stared back into the crowd. All eyes were on him. Dib had never been afraid of being the center of attention, but this was rather uncomfortable for him.

Suddenly, there was a thud on the floor behind him, and Dib heard the entire room suck in air. He turned around to find Zim's limp, yet still alive, body behind him, his pink blood oozing onto the gray floors.

Then, time stopped. Everything was still as everyone kept their eyes on the unconscious Irken. It appeared that they were unsure of what to do. Were they supposed to know some sort of drill for this? Dib wasn't sure.

Then, a group of guards wearing blue jumpsuits pushed through the crowd. Two of them took to Dib, and the other four grabbed one of Zim's limbs each. Dib watched as they carried the bloody Irken away. He left a pool of blood on the floor behind him and he left a trail of droplets behind as he was taken away. The crowd hollered profanities at the little man as he passed, and Dib found himself questioning whether or not he should've been taking them seriously once again.

The guards patted Dib down and ran some sort of metal detector over him, and then lead him away, one guard holding either arm.

While the guards forcefully lead Dib through the ship, he craned his neck, wondering where Zim went. Were they going to help him? Was he dead? Was Zim in cahoots with these people? That couldn't be. They were obviously _terrified_ of him.

They took him down a dark, deserted hallway. No one else was there. The two guards pushed him into a door on the right and didn't follow him in.

Dib found himself alone in a white room. It was small, with an examination table in the middle and a little, white chair sat in the corner.

He took a seat on the examination table and looked at his knees. The plasma handcuffs sparked at his wrists, creating a warm sensation in his arms. It was a little exhilarating once he got the chance to sit down and think about it.

The door opened and an alien that Dib recognized as a Vortian walked in. Her beady purple eyes complimented her fuschia skin. She wore a lab coat that dragged along the floor behind her.

As she entered, she typed away on a gray tablet. Dib watched intently for a moment as she did so. Finally, she cleared her throat and looked up at him. "Hello," she said formally, "I'm Si-lo, the main doctor here. I'm just here to give a quick examination and heal any injuries."

Dib stared back at her, and gave her an awkward grin, "Uh, yeah, okay."

She grinned awkwardly, revealing pointed teeth as she let out a light chuckle, tapping her fingers nervously on the backside of her tablet, which she held over her torso with the screen facing her.

They didn't speak for a moment. Finally, she cleared her throat. "So, uh, I need to...uh...know your species for this part."

Dib frowned. She'd said it as if she expected him to know the drill for the check-up. "Oh." he rubbed his neck. "I'm human."

She went to type on her tablet. "Never heard that one before," she informed him with a honeyed tone of voice.

"What is this place?" Dib asked.

She glanced up at him, "That's," she hesitated. "Not for me to tell you." She returned her tablet to her side and stepped toward him. "So what happened with you and that...Irken?" she inquired with a shudder.

"We crash-landed," Dib replied. He found it rather hypocritical of her to turn down his questions just to bring up her own. All he wanted to know where the heck he was and who these people were. But he satisfied her request anyways in hopes that they would be kind to him.

"Hmm," she hummed, letting Dib know that she was listening. She grabbed the sides of his head and examined his bumps, and then moved around the table to his backside and leaned in to have a look at his neck, "Well, I know nothing about... _humans_...but I should be able to help you out just the same."

Dib offered her a fake smile. She smiled back before crossing the room. Dib watched her, feeling weirded out by her friendliness. Actually, he was weirded out by everything that had happened to him in the last half and hour. It seemed that this place constantly fluctuated between being neighborly and being rancorous.

The doctor swiped her hand along the wall behind Dib, and a cabinet emerged from the metal. She opened it, taking out a clear jar filled with what looked to Dib like jelly. She crossed back to Dib and instructed him to remove his shirt. Dib protested at first, but did as told. She took another brief look at him and unscrewed the lid to the jar, beginning to apply the strange jelly to his injuries. Immediately, Dib could feel his bruises disappearing. He took a bit from the jar and smeared it over his injured ear-lobe. The sting was gone.

"What _is_ this stuff?!" Dib asked, observing the jar with enthusiasm.

"Healing jelly." she smiled as she continued to apply the stuff. "It works to heal all different sorts of injuries at once."

"Oh, so it's like the opposite of Vortian plasma!"

She stopped and shifted her glance to Dib. "How do you know about that?"

Dib's wonder faltered into confusion again, "Zim told me about it. It's pretty amazing stuff."

"Who is...Zim?" she cocked her head. Dib was about to tell her, but then she went pale. She screwed the lid back onto the jar and returned it to the cabinet.

"What-" Dib began to ask.

She left before he could finish. As she passed through the door, a second Vortian was startled by her frantic exit. He wore a gray-blue jumpsuit with big, green goggles that made his eyes look bigger than they actually were. Si-lo leaned over to whisper something to him, gesturing to the information she'd recorded on her tablet. He nodded in response and she disappeared down the hall.

He turned back to the Human, looking nervous.

"Hello," said the Vortian as he entered.

Dib gave him a half-hearted wave.

"My name is Lard Nar." He looked around the room for a moment, like he was looking for something. He let out a faint "ah!" at the sight of the little white chair in the corner. Without letting Dib out of his sight, he pulled it over so that he could sit. He took a seat, staring at Dib with his elbows on his knees, his face propped in his palms. His glance shifted to Dib's hands and he seemed to relax upon the sight of the Human's handcuffs.

"Hi," Dib replied with an unenthusiastic wave, "I'm Dib. Can you _please_ tell me where I am?" he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Lard Nar frowned, "Did she not tell you?"

Dib shook his head. Lard Nar rolled his eyes with a distressed breath, "Si-lo, are you _serious_ he's a _prisoner_ _and he's not going anywhere we can tell him where he IS!"_

Dib furrowed his brow but didn't say anything.

Lard Nar folded his hand, taking a deep breath, "Anyhow, I am the leader of a quite _intimidating_ alliance against the Irken Empire." He balled his hands into little and proud fists.

Dib raised a brow. A _resistance._ So these guys _were_ on his side. Although they didn't trust him, Dib was more than ready to gain their approval.

"We call ourselves the _Resisty."_ Lard Nar continued, "Now, I must know, how-"

"Wait," Dib held up a hand, cutting him off. "Wait. The _Resisty_?"

"I-" Lard Nar placed a palm to his face, " _Yes_."

"That's," Dib contemplated it. "That's really _dumb!_ Who came up with that?"

" _Yes!_ " Lard Nar squealed, " _I know it's stupid, but I need to know how long your species has been allied with the Irken Empire!_ "

Dib blinked. "What?"

"Our rescue team said that you had been alone with the two Irkens on Desertia."

"I mean, yeah, but, that doesn't mean I really wanted anything to do with them!"

"Wait, what?" Lard Nar cocked his head, leaning forward slightly.

"I-" Dib slid his hands down his cheeks. He was tired of everybody. "I've been using Zim to get myself back to my home planet, Earth. He's trying to destroy it, so I followed him to Irk. There was this crazy...ceremony going on-"

"Wait," Lard Nar sat on the edge of his seat, looking enthralled. "You've _been_ to Irk; the Irken home planet?"

"Y-yeah." Dib rubbed his neck again. "I followed Zim there. There was this crazy...census thing going on."

Lard Nar stood up, grabbing the bottom of his chair. He pulled it closer to Dib and took a seat again, getting comfy. He laced his fingers together and held them to his mouth, "Tell me _everything_."

Dib took a deep breath and began to tell Lard Nar everything that had happened to them thus far. Lard Nar listened intently the whole time, his eyes getting wide at certain parts.

"So, then they started... _killing_ all these defectives. It was pretty insane. Then, when it got to my turn, they found me out," Dib recalled, "Zim came out of the defectives-"

"Oh!" Lard Nar perked up. "That fool is still around? I thought they would have killed him by now." he shrugged. "Anyway-"

But Dib was perplexed. He interrupted the Vortian, "Wait, what?"

Lard Nar looked confused for a moment, but then seemed to realize what Dib was speaking of. "Oh, Zim? He was stationed in the same science lab as me long, long ago." he paused. "He was relocated after his experiment killed Tallest Miyuki. Last I'd heard he was in training to be an elite. Can you believe that? An Irken Elite."

"Zim...Zim killed one of his leaders?"

"Well have you not met him?" Lard Nar chuckled, crossing his arms. "He's a walking disaster. I've never been a fan of treatment of Irken defectives, but I mean, wow."

"...Yeah." Dib looked to the ground, deep in thought. That explained a _lot._ He knew Zim was bad, but this; this was _haunting_. The feeling that he and Zim weren't so different suddenly vanished all at once. Zim was a killing machine. Dib was not. Things were just the same as they always had been. Dib felt foolish for starting to think that Zim maybe had real feelings. The Irken had a dark past, obviously, but he didn't deserve pity for it.

"Finish your story!" Lard Nar ordered.

Dib looked back up. "Oh. Uh...well, we got away and made a deal. Then this crazy Irken, the one that shot him with the Vortian plasma, started following us everywhere. It's kind of annoying. We should keep an eye out for them."

Lard Nar's eyes widened, "Those...imbeciles!" he seethed, "They weren't supposed to use that plasma! It's still a prototype!" he exclaimed. He mumbled something about defective barrels in the blasters, almost sounding relieved, before turning back to Dib. "Then what?" he asked.

The Irkens...weren't supposed to be using that stuff? Dib took note of the Empire's untrustworthiness. It seemed to be a common trait. "Anyways...that's when your rescue team found us," he informed the Vortian.

"Hm." Lard Nar thought, "Well, thank you, Dib. The guards will be taking you to your cell momentarily."

"Wait!" Dib sat up. "What? I thought you were on my side!"

"What?" Lard Nar laughed. "Did you really think we'd let you off the hook that easy? The rest of this ship may be stupid, but I have at least a little bit of brains in my head! You were still found alone with two Irkens!"

Lard Nar seemed to notice Dib's disappointment. "Alright. See here, Dib. I thank you for the information, but we just can't trust you yet. I'm sorry."

The Vortian got up to leave. Dib stayed put, contemplating all the new information. Suddenly, he looked up, "Wait!"

Lard Nar turned back.

"Why did you help us?"

Lard Nar looked him up and down like he was stupid "You two have information that we need."

With that, he left. After a few minutes, two guards came in and lead Dib away. He sighed but followed directions, sick of being lead places.

As they traveled through the Resisty's ship, Dib found himself receiving many foul looks. He couldn't blame them. Irkens had destroyed their homes.

He was placed into a cold, uninviting, metal cell and left alone. There was a window on the door of the prison wing, and he could see two Resisty members stationed outside, chatting with each other.

Holding onto the metal bars, he sighed, feeling grumpy. He looked down the hallway of cells. No one else was there. Dib had managed to be the first prisoner.

"Hoorah," Dib chanted blandly with a weak pump of his fist.

He turned around and sat against the far wall, watching the bleak, white hall outside his cell.

"This is stupid," he muttered, throwing his head back. He hit it on the wall and then groaned in annoyance.

He wondered where Zim was.

* * *

(( ** _A/N:_** _*Rises from the cold, dark grave that I disappear to after posting a new chapter*_

 _Hey everyone!_

 _I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm not as pleased with this one as I have been with others in the past, but whatever. It gets the point across._

 _It was fun writing's Zim's injury. Everyone was real mad at me for doing that to him. Sorry, guys! I didn't like hurting him, either, but hey, gotta spice it up a little, right?_

 _There's not really much else for me to say here. Life is busy, as always. I just got a job, but updates should still be coming as frequently as possible. I'm NOT giving up on this as far into it as I am._

 _Anywho, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It would mean the world to me if you would please leave a review. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. Until next time! Bye!_


	13. The Shortest Interrogation Ever

_Hey, everyone! There's vomit in this chapter. I know from personal experience that sometimes that kind of stuff can make people a bit uncomfortable, so I just thought I'd drop a warning! Enjoy!_

* * *

He could feel himself coming to.

But everything was hurting.

And he found himself so undeniably disoriented.

He was freezing.

Breathing shakily, Zim opened his eyes. A bright light shone over him, causing a splitting headache behind his burning, leaky eyes. He let out a pitiful moan in complaint, realizing how dry his throat was.

He felt so incredibly woozy.

He was so nauseous.

He didn't know where he was.

Going to shield his eyes, Zim forgot to be concerned when he couldn't move his arms. Instead, he blinked stupidly, his unoriented head trying to make sense of where he was. Unfortunately, he just couldn't figure it out.

Someone said something, although Zim wasn't sure what. To him, their voice was distant and their words held no meaning.

There was someone standing over him. Their silhouette was blurry.

Was it a screwhead? No, a Vortian. There was a Vortian standing over him.

Zim let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He was in the hospital being treated for...something. He was okay. The Tallest weren't mad. He was still their favorite.

As Zim's awareness continued to return, he managed to notice that this Vortian was not wearing a slave uniform.

Another Vortian came into view. They were not a slave, either. Slowly putting the pieces together, Zim felt his body plunge into a state of panic as he realized that these Vortians were the infamous rebels.

Zim sat straight up, ignoring the shooting pain that the sudden movement caused in his shoulder. He cared not. He wanted to leave. But, much to Zim's dislike, he was chained to an operating table.

The Vortian doctors were panicking now, screaming things at each other in an attempt to get the situation under control. Zim was seething with rage. He tried to yell at them, but his voice simply came out as a hoarse and incomprehensible croak. He didn't understand what they were saying to him.

His claws were piercing the metal on the operating table. The Vortians were clawing at him, trying to hold him still with panic in their eyes. But Zim fought back against his restraints despite the immense pain it put him through. It was simply the invader way to do things.

However, before Zim could break free, he felt the contents of his stomach rise into his throat and get caught there. He couldn't breathe. Before he could do anything about it, he had been placed back on the table. They were holding him down.

He was choking, his body lurching in a desperate attempt to save himself. Everything was burning. The room was spinning.

The last thing Zim heard before he was out again was the unnerved cries of the Vortian doctors.

* * *

Awake.

Zim was awake again.

Everything was still aching. He felt disoriented for a moment while he remembered what had happened when he'd last been awake.

How long had he been out?

His eyes fluttered open. The room was dimly lit now. It was much easier on his eyes. From what Zim understood, he was alone except for the medical machines beeping around him

He felt considerably better. He was no longer loopy beyond his own control. The Vortians had obviously given him some sort of medicine to assist in his health. Either that or he'd been out for much longer than he'd suspected. Either way, he was still dazed and a little bit feverish. In no way would he be able to conquer a planet in the condition he was in at that time. Still, he knew that he'd have to devise an escape plan.

Whatever they had done to him, it worked wonders. Vortians were a menace, but they were impeccably clever. That was quite dangerous when it came to having them work on all the latest military technology. They were known for intentionally putting flaws into their work.

Zim thought about this for a moment, but put it aside almost immediately, worried about more trying matters.

What had even happened to him? He found it a bit concerning that he couldn't quite remember. All he could picture was those doctors prodding at his shoulder.

Zim went to sit up but found himself restrained. Still? There weren't even any doctors to destroy. Pitiful Resisty members.

The Irken banged his head against the metal table in indignation. When it caused his splitting headache to return, he regretted it. However, he forgot about this when he heard a door behind him swoosh open behind him and felt himself go vulnerable.

Zim bared his teeth to show his dominance to a stranger that could not see. He hated whoever this person was. They had locked him up. He felt cheated and unappreciated as an Irken as he laid on a metal operating table that had held countless inferior beings before him. He felt sick. He felt anxious. He felt a great and undeniable desire to get back to Earth and do his job.

There was the sound of footsteps and a chair scraping the floor, and then there was a Vortian sitting at his side. Something was oddly familiar about him.

"Good Morning." said the Vortian, "Are you feeling better?"

Zim did not respond. What did this Vortian even care? They were enemies.

The Vortian cleared his throat, looking particularly trepidatious. "I suppose you might remember me?"

Zim did not.

"I, uh, I worked with you back on Vort Research Station 9. Lard Nar? Remember?"

Zim did not remember him.

Lard Nar nervously rubbed his sweaty palms onto his pants. "Heh, anyhow, you gave us quite the scare. We can't just have our first Irken interrogatee dying on us, right? Heh."

Dying? What had happened? Zim felt a wave of fear overtake him as he found he couldn't quite put his tongue on how he'd ended up on an operating table.

His confusion must have shown, as Lard Nar explained, "You were shot. Actually, we were lucky to find you! Had we been a minute later, you and that Human boy would've been toast!"

Zim frowned.

Dib? Where was Dib?

Before he could think about it more, Zim felt everything coming back to him.

He'd been shot.

He'd bled out and while the perplexity had overtaken him, he'd been approached by strangers. Then he'd gone unconscious, cursed to the darkness of sleep.

Then he'd woken up to Resisty doctors poking his shoulder and discussing his health as he'd gagged on his own vomit.

Remembering for the first time made him feel so helpless. He was a sitting duck, shot by his own kind and left in the hands of the enemy. How?

He'd have to report it to the Tallest.

"So," Lard Nar continued, "I need you to answer some questions for me."

Zim did not reply. He had no answers to any questions. He wanted to leave.

"Why did you save me?" Zim croaked. Honestly, he was befuddled.

Lard Nar's face lit up. "Ah! He speaks!" the Vortian chuckled, "But I see! An answer for an answer!?"

Zim shook his head. "No. Now answer my question, you hooligan."

"But I already have! You're my new interrogatee!"

"Lies!"

"Do you not see yourself right there? On my table?!"

"No!"

Lard Nar collected himself. They were getting off topic. "Look, your brachial artery was severely damaged. We stitched you up, but we _can_ untie those stitches if you aren't useful. Understand?"

Zim narrowed his eyes. He could practically feel the heat radiating off of him. What a stupid way to speak to an irken.

"So, I know all about Counting Day from…" he paused, twiddling his thumbs. "external sources."

Even in a state of mental confusion, Zim understood that that was bad.

How?

How did he know?

Zim thought for a moment.

Dib.

Dib had given away everything he knew, obviously, sinking the two of them into deeper trouble. What a fool.

Zim couldn't just talk about it. That was classified information.

"No comment?" Lard Nar queried.

Zim thought more. No, he couldn't. He would be killed.

"Well come on, cough it up!"

"There will be no coughing up today! Not again!"

Lard Nar took a deep breath. He was obviously struggling to make himself dominant. This was a common struggle while in the presence of Zim. The irken laughed to himself, pitying the poor, gray man.

"Alright," Lard Nar began, "Perhaps if we narrow it down?"

Zim said nothing.

"Alright. So, I've been told there were several defectives ruled out at the ceremony."

Not this again.

"Any clue of their whereabouts?"

Zim scoffed, "They've been killed. You'll never find them!"

Lard Nar looked confused. He cocked his head. "But you're still here."

Zim felt the atmosphere go dark.

No.

Not _this_ again.

"What are you getting at?" Zim asked.

"The Human tells me that you were ruled defective."

"That was a lie! Now shut up you...you dirt!"

"Look, we can help you!"

"No!"

"I'm just saying that maybe some others escaped!"

"None of them escaped."

Lard Nar shrugged. "Then why are you here?"

 _No._

Zim lunged at the Vortian, and much to Lard Nar's luck, he was stopped by the chains, which were still holding him down. Lard Nar backed away like he'd been waiting for it to happen, his eyes wide.

The door behind Zim swooshed open again. There were people panicking. He was fighting some more. Lard Nar looked at him like he was a monster.

Someone was holding Zim down.

He was yelling.

Lard Nar was yelling, too.

"Fine! Be that way, you Irken scum! But hear this! Your people are illegally using our plasma! I know it! Well, guess what?! You will regret it!"

Zim suddenly felt very sleepy.

"You will _regret_ it!"

Then, once again, everything was black.

* * *

Quite frankly, Zim was tired of being put to sleep, whether it be because of a life-threatening injury, or the cowardly Resisty.

But luckily, he was not restrained this time. Despite this, his head still hurt and he just generally felt ill. He actually felt a bit worse than he previously had. It was obvious they hadn't given him further treatment after his little outburst.

Putting a hand on his head, Zim sat up with a moan, feeling particularly uneasy. Sitting up made his head feel worse, but he didn't lay back down.

When Zim observed the room, he was rather confused.

He sat right in the middle of a bright room with pink walls. On the wall he faced, there was a single, metal bench. There was no other furniture in the room. Just the cold, fuschia walls that surrounded him.

This was an Irken prison.

Was he on Irk?

No, no. He wasn't. He was on a Vort ship, in between disguised walls. Pink was no traditional Vortian color. This cell was special, secure, and meant to mimic ones in the high-security prisons back on Irk. It would traumatize anyone who was placed inside, just from the mere thought of being stuck in the pink walls. He'd heard of this place before. Not that he wanted to stay or anything. Obviously, he was too mighty off a prisoner to be placed anywhere else.

While he was still physically sore, his head felt a bit more clear. Zim felt more like himself.

Okay, find a door, Zim thought, being the amazing being that you are, that's simple enough.

He scanned the wall in front of him. No door. So, he scanned the walls next to him. Nothing. No doors.

Zim stood up, feeling his knees pop. He felt a bit dizzy but was overall fine. Turning around to take a look at the wall behind him, Zim felt his stomach flip over.

There was another Irken staring back at him. Dark shadows loomed underneath their eyes. Their antennae were bent in the wrong directions and their uniform was tattered and stained. There was a bandage on their left shoulder, caked with blood.

Zim stared at them in awe for a moment before he realized that this Irken was him.

And suddenly, he didn't feel so amazing anymore.

He crossed the room with a crestfallen look on his face and sat in front of the mirror with his legs crossed. Squinting out of disbelief, Zim exhaled lightly.

This was not what an invader was supposed to look like.

What kind of invader traveled with their enemy at their side? What kind of invader got shot by his own kind? What kind of invader was captured by rebels?

Zim had never listened to what lies he heard people say to him, but now...

 _No,_ Zim thought. His fists tightened in his lap. _You're just as excellent as you always have been…_

 _HA, what a pitiful thing for such a fool like you to say._

 _No, Zim...Zim is amazing!_

 _Lies!_

 _What?_

Zim is a fool.

 _...No, he's not._

 _Yes, he is._

 _No, he's not._

 _Yes, he is!_

Zim removed his gaze from the big mirror and stared into his lap, his breathing turning shallow.

There was someone in Zim's head. They were tearing down the strings. They were ripping down the strings that Zim had strung up in order to create a positive image for himself. And now, Zim found himself frantically trying to hand them back up. But he was losing. His ego was being stolen from him too quickly.

 _This is your fault. How incompetent do you have to be?!_ they said.

 _Stop!_

 _Stop what?_

 _Zim commands you to stop!_

 _Man, maybe you are the worthless thing Dib calls you._

He looked into the mirror again, _A defective_ , they said

"Agh, No!" Zim hollered, pounding his fists against the floor. They made a metal banging sound. Zim jumped.

He couldn't breathe.

Zim stood up, beginning to pace around his little, pink cell. "I am Zim, I am Zim, I am Zim, I am Zim," he repeated as he paced.

Were the walls closing in?

He stopped at the wall and put his back against it, sliding down so he could sit. He wrapped his arms around his legs, putting his face inside. "I am Zim, I am Zim, I am…"

No, it was too hot in there.

Zim let his legs sprawl out. He began picking at the loose strings on his gloves with a weak expression on his face. He could tell his eyes were glassy. He was shaking. His breathing was shaky.

Was there anyone watching him?

Where was Dib?

Was he working with the rebels?

That would mean the deal was off.

How much had he told them?

Would he go back to Earth?

Zim wanted to go back to Earth.

What could have happened had Zim not forgotten about Counting Day?

Would Dib have followed him?

Would he be being followed by some crazy predator?

Would he have been shot?

Maybe that irken was a rogue.

Zim didn't have time to rationalize an answer for any of these questions. His mind was going too fast. Every time a new question was created, another one took its place immediately.

He yelled out in anger, getting to his feet again. He kicked the wall and then looked at himself in the mirror again.

"No!" Zim threw his head up. "What am I doing! I am Zim! I must get out of here!"

He hopped to his feet with his newfound confidence. He scanned the walls again for a door, but again, nothing.

He was just...so tired.

And at once, the burst of confidence was gone.

He sat down again, his head hanging low.

"I am Zim…" he told himself, "Zim is not a failure."

 _Yes, he is._

"Stop!" Zim covered the sides of his head. "Stop! I am Zim!"

His chest was tight.

This was unacceptable.

"I am Zim," he repeated, "I am Zim, I am Zim, I am Zim, I am Zim…"

He repeated it to himself over and over until he felt confident again. He kept muttering to himself until he felt safe and secure.

However, as usual, his mental stability was always served with a side of anxiety.

* * *

 _(( **A/N:** Bam! New chapter! Woo!_

 _I'm glad to have gotten this one up. I'm leaving for vacation literally tomorrow and I would have hated to leave this_ un updated _. But with hard work and perseverance, here we are! A good 24 hours to spare!_

 _Anywho, this chapter had some bumps. But I sorted them out and think this turned out decent. I hope you guys feel the same way._

 _Thank you very much for reading! It would mean the world to me if you left a review!_

 _Thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed! Happy Spring Break!_


	14. A New Deal

There wasn't much to do in Dib's cell.

He found himself transitioning between pacing and staring at the wall.

He was getting quite antsy in there.

How long had it been? It felt like years, but Dib knew that couldn't be true. However, there wasn't a clock around, so who knew?

They brought him meals every so often. It would usually be something he'd never seen before, such as a snail, whose shell was pink with blue polka dots. There was never any actual snail inside. He had to eat the shell instead. It was crunchy, and not very good.

However, this was not the only thing Dib had been presented with thus far. Another common meal was a little cube covered in brown fur. When it was stabbed with a fork (or another eating utensil. There were many different utensils given to Dib that he had never seen before) it purred. Dib found this disturbing. But it wasn't so bad. It tasted like grilled chicken. But Dib knew that it probably wasn't.

The drinks were just as strange. He was always served the same one, but he was still fascinated each time it was given to him. He had to say, he didn't know liquid could have polka dots.

Meal time was definitely the most exciting part of his days in space jail. The rest of his time was spent staring at walls. It was very boring. So, when he wasn't eating or staring at walls, he was sleeping, because at least his dreams would take him somewhere besides his lonely cell. Also, it was nice to be able to catch up on his z's.

He never saw people except for the occasional servant, who brought him food. Once, Dib attempted engaging in a conversation, but the servant did not reply.

These people really didn't trust him.

He knew it was because of Zim.

Never had he known that Irkens were so despised throughout the whole universe.

He needed to find a way back to Earth…

This was what crossed Dib's mind at a certain point as he sat in his cell. He began to think about it constantly.

This is what he was thinking about this when his first chance of liberation was fabricated.

He was laying on his back with his arms under his head as he stared at the ceiling with a blank expression on his face. At this point in the journey, he'd rather go back in time and be killed by the empire than lose his mind in a tiny, metal cell.

What would have happened had he not given Zim his trust? What if he had just robbed someone else's ship? Maybe there would be _two_ bounty hunters; one of each of them. Without each other's help, one of them would have surely have been dead. Dib liked to think it would've been Zim. Well, he was _already_ dead, probably.

Dib wasn't quite sure where Zim was at. He'd heard no word of him. Then again, he hadn't heard a single word from anyone else but himself in quite a while.

He was pretty sure Zim was dead.

Dib sat up and laid his palms on the cold floor. He tapped his fingers. He looked around.

Yup, the cell was just the same as it had been twenty minutes prior.

Dib groaned. He had to get back to Earth. He couldn't let himself rot alone in that cold cell.

The prison bay door opened. Dib sat straight up. He was feeling pretty hungry at that moment. He was ready for something to eat.

But this wasn't the servant with his regularly scheduled meal. No, this was one of the guards. The one's in the black clothes.

He approached the door to Dib's cell and swiped his wrist against an empty part of the wall. Nothing happened. He looked to Dib with nerves in his eyes. "Oh, uh, darn. Hang on a second…"

He scanned his wrist again. Nothing. He laughed nervously. He tried again. Nothing.

"Uh, well," the guard put his hands behind his back. "hold on…"

He left.

Dib stood and crossed to the front of his cell. Grabbing one metal bar in each hand, he tried to look out the prison bay window and watch the guard walk away. But he was already gone.

Dib looked to the ground, feeling sullen.

He sat down where he was, peering to the empty cell across the hall from him and sighed.

He wanted to go home.

But then, the bay door opened again. Lard Nar entered with the guard from before. He looked quite cross. He and the guard crossed back over to the wall.

"Show me," Lard Nar ordered.

The guard scanned the wall again. Nothing happened. "See?! It's broken!"

"Right. Hand!" Lard Nar shouted between clenched teeth, "You scan with your right hand!"

The guard jumped, startled from the shout and tried again with his right hand instead of his left. The cell door opened. The guard looked quite agitated, his Vortian horns twitching with embarrassment, but he did not hesitate before he scurried across the cell and grabbed Dib's hand. After a quick moment, Dib found electric handcuffs sparking at his wrists again. He'd gotten quite used to them.

As Dib was escorted from his cell, Lard Nar took over holding him. He grabbed the Human by the arm and nodded to the guard. "Thank you."

The guard nodded in response. Lard Nar jerked Dib's arm and they left the prison bay together. The guard was sure to follow close behind.

"Where are we going?" Dib asked at one point as they traveled through the halls of the ship. However, he was never given a true answer.

"Your friend was of no use to us…" was all Lard Nar told him.

"Z-Zim?" Dib asked. So, he _was_ alive. "He's _not_ my friend."

Lard Nar did not respond.

Although their trip through the halls was short, the stares made it feel like a million years. It seemed that Dib's relations to Zim made him a monster. He didn't know what the Irken race had done to these poor rebels, but it had to have been despicable.

They reached a solid door. As they approached, it opened automatically for them. As they entered, Lard Nar gave their escorting guard a brief, "Thank you," before he pushed Dib inside. The door closed behind them.

Inside this room was a single, gray table attached to the ground. Lard Nar sat at one end and invited Dib to sit across from him. Dib did so. Once he was seated, Lard Nar spoke.

"Hello again," he said, "maybe you have predicted this by now, but your friend gave us a hard time."

"Did he?" Dib replied.

"Yes," Lard Nar frowned. "He did not choose to cooperate with us."

"Yeah, Zim doesn't really cooperate with anyone."

Lard Nar cleared his throat. Dib said nothing. Quite frankly, he was surprised the irken was even alive.

"But you'll cooperate with us, right?"

Dib contemplated this. Should he? He hated Zim with every ounce of his soul, and information about the empire needed to be given to anyone who would listen…

But, he had an idea. He had an idea that might benefit both he and the Resisty.

"Maybe...a deal?" Dib suggested.

"Like what?" Lard Nar asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Dib hesitated this. Was it really such a good idea?

It was worth a try.

"Uhh," Dib sighed, "You need to bring Zim and I back to Earth."

Lard Nar stared at him blankly. He shook his head. Dib frowned.

Dib couldn't do this. He couldn't stand being locked up another day. He knew they were desperate for any sort of information in order to continue with their rebellion. The stress lines in Lard Nar's face made it evident, "I won't tell you anything unless you do this for me."

Dib wanted to cross his arms, but his handcuffs made that impossible.

Lard Nar scowled at him. His face contorted through several expressions of anger and defeat before he said, "You answer our questions and we'll think about it."

That was good enough for Dib.

* * *

Dib was pacing in his cell.

The questions hadn't been extensive. Also, they were not relevant to anything except to set up the following event.

The prison bay door swished open. Dib looked up. Lard Nar entered with two guards at his side.

"So?" Dib asked

Lard Nar crossed to Dib so he could stare at him through the metal bars. "You are of no value to us anymore. We've taken everything you know. Therefore, as your reward, we have decided that yes, you may return to Earth. However, if you are caught conspiring with the Irkens again, you will be eliminated."

Dib nodded. "Okay. Y'know, this is a big relief. Zim and I have this crazy deal going on and it'll be nice to know things will just go back to normal. Well, I mean, my normal isn't exactly that great, but it's a relief knowing that I'll know what he's up to."

He met Lard Nar's gaze. The Vortian blinked.

"On Earth." Dib continued.

Lard Nar gave him a strange look. Dib didn't know what exactly he was trying to say.

"By me…" Dib finished.

There was a pause, but Lard Nar spoke, "I'm sorry, you must not understand...Zim will not be returning to Earth. Just you."

Dib felt an indescribable fear course through his veins. "What?"

"He's too valuable to us, Dib! Although he's rather worthless to trade, he's a direct source from the Irken Empire!"

No. Oh, no. This would not work.

"But, you don't understand…" Dib looked to his feet and back. "Zim could destroy my planet if he gets away from you! We made a deal..." He looked up to Lard Nar. "You and I made a deal!"

Lard Nar gave him a solemn look through the bars. "Not exactly. I said we would think about the idea. This is our offer."

"I can't," Dib looked down, "I can't leave him.

"Oh," Lard Nar shook his head. "Then I guess you aren't leaving." He began to turn on his heel.

"Wait!" Dib called after him. Lard Nar stopped. "He could get away."

"You really think he'll get away?"

"He's Zim. Anything could happen!"

"But we have him safe and secure here, Dib. You should be excited to have this menace off your hands."

Dib held his upper arm with his opposite hand. This was a bad idea. They'd made a _deal._ Dib knew Zim too well to understand that something could go well.

"Have you seen a _trace_ of Zim since you were thrown in here?" Lard Nar asked.

He hadn't. But still…

"This is your chance to go back home,"

Earth.

"See your family or whatever."

His family...

Was his family even worried?

He doubted it.

They only wanted him out so they wouldn't have to waste their food on him.

Dib couldn't just break the deal. It was for the good of the Earth.

But Lard Nar insisted that Zim was safe.

There was no saying when his next chance to get home would be.

"So?" Lard Nar asked, "Yes or no?"

Dib rubbed his pointer finger against his knuckles.

"Would you rather rot here by yourself, or be happy on Earth knowing that Zim is receiving the most heinous of punishments?"

Dib broke his gaze from Lard Nar to look at his feet.

"Dib?"

Dib's gaze met Lard Nar's green eyes again. "I'll do it."

* * *

 _ **(A/N):** Ooh, Boy. Dib, I don't think that's such a good idea._

 _Y'know, I was expecting this chapter to be harder to write, but it actually was written fairly quick. This could've been up a week or two ago, but I kept getting caught up in stuff. But today I had my life together, so I made some coffee, sat outside and started editing this. I actually am rather proud of this one!_

 _This is the last chapter before things REALLY get intense ;)_

Anyhow, I don't have much else to say other than hope the best for these two. Until next time, please review (it really helps!) and have a stupendous day!


	15. It could go so wrong

"It may take a few hours for you to land, so here," Lard Nar said, "take this."

Dib took the backpack. Peering inside, he found that it was full of space snacks and drinks. Laying next to the supplies was a small tablet.

"That's for contacting help only," Lard Nar explained.

Dib nodded and looked across the docking bay. As usual, it was bustling with activity.

There was a small shuttle being prepared for him. He watched the Resisty members as they stared at screens and pushed buttons. Preparing a shuttle appeared to be serious business.

He was finally going home.

It seemed that he was confusedly making his way about Irk ages ago. Although Dib predicted it had only been a few days, it felt like light-years.

Now, his arch enemy was locked up for good as Dib prepared to go home without a scratch on his body.

Dib almost felt guilty.

They'd made a deal. But when the chance to make it home without Zim was displayed on Dib's plate, he barely hesitated to take that chance. Was that wrong of him?

Leaving made Dib feel anxious. What if Zim found out? What if he escaped? What if he lost his mind? Dib had no doubt that on the journey, he'd seen the fabric of Zim's barely existing sanity begin to unravel. Could that come back to haunt him?

Dib wondered what would become of Zim. Would he escape? Would he _die_? He wasn't sure if he liked either of those possibilities.

Zim was the closest thing Dib had ever had to a friend. Dib found this a little amusing; his enemy being his closest friend? How ludicrous was that?! He hated Zim with a passion and wanted nothing more for him to die. And to be honest, Dib was a little disappointed that Zim wouldn't die because of him.

Dib hated Zim with his entire being, and he feared that something would go wrong with the plan.

However, he did not hesitate to let it happen.

What could go wrong? Lard Nar said that Zim was secure in his cell.

Dib was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of a voice.

"Final shuttle for Earth, departing in ten minutes," a voice broadcasted over an intercom. Her voice rang about the ship, echoing even into the darkest, most far away hallways.

Dib's eyes met Lard Nar's. He grabbed Dib's shoulder lightly and escorted him away.

This was Dib's last chance to make the choice he knew was right.

However, he made no effort to turn back.

* * *

In the past, Zim had poisoned his mind with false hope.

Now, that poison had been replaced with something else.

It was a powerful drug. It was toxic. It was venomous. It plagued him with terrible thoughts. It made him vomit. It made him shake. It made him lose his mind a little bit more with each and every minute.

Zim was sick. Very sick.

Maybe it was the result of recovering from his catastrophic shoulder injury.

But the true cause of his illness was the effect of reality crushing him like a boot did to a spider.

Zim felt lower than he ever had.

The hopelessness had consumed his entire being. The anxiety refused to take a break. Zim was constantly trapped in his own mind. Each hour that passed was mental torture.

The thought of his mission remaining forever incomplete. The nightmare of him rotting in some cell. The fear of being lost in space and time forever. The realization of his inexistent importance. These many thoughts left Zim as a hollowed out shell of his former self.

The lights had gone off in his cell not long after he was placed in it. But this made Zim happy, as he did not want to see that irken in the mirror. That was not him. That was a failure, and Zim never wanted to see it again.

His shoulder was better. It had healed well. The Vortians had known exactly what he needed. But healing from such an injury still left him weak, tired, and achy.

He didn't feel like moving much at all. All he did was sit against the wall, staring blankly into the dark. His face was devoid of expression. His head hung down limply, as he was too tired, both emotionally and physically, to pick it up.

There was a pool of vomit in the place that he sat. His shoulder was covered in old, flaky blood. The bags under his eyes were permanent, and his entire body ached.

But Zim did not mind.

Zim knew he would waste away in that cell.

And he really believed he deserved it.

Every now and again, a voice filled the room.

On this particular occasion, it said, "Final shuttle for Earth, departing in ten minutes."

* * *

With every step, Dib gained and lost confidence.

It was wrong. It would go so wrong.

But this was his chance. This was his chance to go home.

Lard Nar said things would be fine.

Dib should take his word for it, right?

"Dib?" someone asked, "Are you listening to me?"

Dib shook from his thoughts. Lard Nar was instructing how to properly direct the shuttle. He forgot.

"Oh," he said nervously, "Yes. Keep going."

Lard Nar looked as though he could tell Dib was troubled, but kept going. "Don't pull the green lever until the ship is locked, and don't leave your seat until the ship allows you to. Oh! And remember. You mustn't come back."

Dib nodded understandingly. Honestly, he didn't really fancy returning to the Resisty's ship anyway (Unless it was an emergency!).

The instructions were simple enough. It was basic stuff. The ship's route had already been set. All Dib needed to do was press the button when the red light turned on, or pull the lever when they entered the atmosphere, or something along those lines. Easy peasy.

They had reached the shuttle. Together, the temporary allies stopped and observed the craft.

"Well, I suppose this is it." Lard Nar suggested after a moment.

Dib looked to him, and then back to the shuttle. "Yeah."

The door swished open. Dib watched it as it moved silently to the side.

"Well, my boy," Lard Nar said, "I wish you the best of luck. Thank you so much for the information. I believe it will really h-"

Lard Nar's words were interrupted as the entire ship lurched, sending everyone in the crowded docking bay to their knees. The lights flickered, and the room was overwhelmed with darkness until the dim emergency lights flickered on.

Then, panic.

Everyone panicked.

* * *

Zim had heard this voice several times during his time in the cell.

It was a Vortian woman's voice. The voice of one of the empire's greatest enemies and the only voice Zim ever heard during his time in the cell. While it was nice to get to hear another voice now again, never before had her voice held any meaning.

At least, it hadn't had any real meaning until now.

Did she say... _Earth_?

As his tired mind processed this, Zim realized that Earth was _his_ stop!

His antennae perked and his head lifted as newfound hope coursed throughout his body.

His mission _could_ be completed!

Which way was up? Which was down? He wasn't quite sure anymore, but that didn't stop him from finding his way to his feet. When he managed to find direction again, Zim went to stand up for the first time in a long time. As his legs took on the sudden weight, he stumbled back down to his knees, but he got up again without hesitation.

His breaths were short and harsh. He was lightheaded. But, he was determined to remind everyone he was there.

"Hello?" Zim called out, his unused voice raspy and dry.

He waited for a moment.

But nobody came.

And all at once, Zim felt his newfound hope slip away.

They couldn't leave him behind! Zim had to finish his mission! He couldn't possibly be stuck there forever! Surely they hadn't forgotten! Surely Dib hadn't broken their deal...

 _That deal._

If he hadn't made that deal then he wouldn't be in such a mess.

He was a _fool_ for even trusting the Dib with such a matter.

He wished he'd launched Dib into space the moment he's proposed such a preposterous notion. He wished he'd killed Dib the first time he'd ever met the human boy. He couldn't stand Dib. Dib had _betrayed_ him!

And now, he was stuck.

Zim covered the sides of his head and sank to the ground. Barely able to stand his self-hatred and anger, he let out an ear-splitting scream that rang throughout the room until it slowly fizzled away.

But then, something peculiar happened.

The entire room shook.

Was that...screaming in the distance?

Before, the room had been so dark that with even Zim's enhanced eyesight, he couldn't see through it. But now, when Zim opened his eyes, a white light greeted him.

He blinked confusedly and looked up, shading his eyes. There was a hole in the ceiling…

 _That_ was where the door had been.

Suddenly, all the regret and sorrow that had built up in Zim's mind once again became non-existent, and the edges of his mouth curled into a nasty grin.

The top panel of his PAK slid open, and using his spider legs, he hoisted himself up and out of the room.

* * *

It was chaos.

Nobody seemed to know what to do, or what was going on. Some of the Resisty members were screaming and running. Others seemed quite unsure of what to do, but still looked quite frightened and panicked as they remained frozen in place. And all Lard Nar and Dib could do was stand in confusion.

There were big ships and shuttles blocking their view. Therefore, neither Dib nor Lard Nar knew what was causing such a fright.

Lard Nar turned to Dib.

"You stay here." he said, "I'm going to figure out what's going on."

Then, the Resisty leader disappeared into the wave of chaos. Dib craned his neck, trying to follow the Vortian with his eyes. But before Dib could locate him, a beam of baby blue light landed in the middle of the crowd, sending Resisty members flying. A big " _boom!"_ followed afterward, leaving the area in a bigger state of disarray as people scrambled to get away from the blast.

Dib felt his stomach drop. His breathing went hard. As he processed the previous event, his brain drowned out the roaring screams. He felt frozen. He felt scared. He felt as if he were living in a dream.

Then, there was a Vortian woman grabbing his shoulders firmly, instructing him to run.

She took off, and Dib snapped back to reality.

Dib did just so. He whirled around to face his assigned shuttle, thinking that could be his escape. However, as he took his first steps, another beam of electricity zipped past his ear and straight through the open door of his shuttle, leaving the craft in a burning wreckage.

The blast knocked him backward.

* * *

He was weak.

Yet, his newfound determination made him strong.

Zim had to use the wall as support as his legs got used to walking again. His limbs felt like jelly. He was drained of energy, but the funny thing was that Zim felt more alive than he ever had.

Slowly but surely, Zim stumbled down the gray halls with the biggest smile on his face.

There were people running. Panicking, even. And it seemed that when they spotted Zim, their fear only grew.

 _That's right,_ he thought, _You should fear me._

Slowly but surely, Zim remembered how amazing he was.

* * *

He opened his eyes.

Dib laid flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling, where one of the dim, green emergency lights greeted him.

As he processed the world around him, he remembered.

Immediately, he got to his feet. His head was pounding and his nose was bleeding, but that would not stop him.

Things were bad. He would have to find Zim amongst this chaos before things got worse.

The panicking crowd was thinning. Everyone had either been killed or found their escape. But even without the feeling of being a sardine, the world was still spinning too fast.

There was a selection of hallways in the docking bay. Dib decided to take his chances and pick one, hoping to find some sort of escape pod or hiding place. He picked one without any thought, and immediately made a break for it. He was so close...

Dib could barely even process what was going on. The shock was too great. He was just running...running...runni-

As he turned into one of the hallways, he bumped into someone, sending them both to the ground.

Dib had landed face first and was pretty sure his nose was broken. However, this was the least of his worries.

"I-I'm sorry!" Dib stuttered. He grabbed his glasses, which had fallen, off, and hastily stuck them back onto his face. He was shaking. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

"Oh, you should be," they replied quietly. They followed with a dry, raspy cackle that sent a chill down Dib's spine.

 _Zim._

Dib pushed his glasses up his nose and looked up, "Zim! It's you!"

He watched Zim hoist himself up. He wobbled but kept his balance by leaning onto the wall next to him. There was a wild look in his eyes.

"You've lost, Dib!" Zim informed him.

Dib furrowed his brow.

"You've _lost!"_ he repeated.

Dib felt the world crashing down around him. "What, no! Zim! Y-you don't under-," he started.

"Oh, I do understand!" Zim chuckled. "You were going to leave me! But don't feel bad!" he said with a grin. "You're not the first one to betray me!"

"Zim, no, you-you-"

"I've heard enough!" Zim exclaimed, leaning in toward him. "I'm going to destroy your planet! I'm going to destroy it! You hear me?! You and the rest of humanity will die in a horrendous fi-AUGH!"

Zim was suddenly sent flying down the hallway as something flew over Dib's head and hit him.

"Zim!" Dib called. He chased after him, wondering what on Earth could have happened.

When he found Zim amongst the continuing chaos, he was baffled to find the irken scrambling to get out of some sort of plasma net. But it wasn't working. The pink, sparkling beams only got tighter as Zim struggled against them.

"Dib-thing! Help me!"

Dib did not.

Instead, he bailed in an attempt to save himself.

He figured that he and Zim were back in enemy territory anyways.

As he stumbled down the hall, beams shot past his ears. He flinched and ducked away, desperately trying to avoid them. But he could only run for a matter of time until he felt the terrorizing feeling of warm plasma wrapping around his ankles and sending him to the ground.

He landed face first on the ground with a grunt again. He grimaced. Yeah, he would definitely come out of that situation with a crooked nose. This was not at the front of his mind, though, since the pink plasma was wrapping itself around him like a fish net.

His first instinct was to struggle. He rolled around and fought against the plasma, but it only got tighter. He noticed someone standing over him. At first, they were blurry until his eyes focused and he recognized them to be the notorious bounty hunter.

Dib felt all his anger collect in the pit of his stomach, making his throat dry and putting his head in a cloud. He was shaking.

This was all their fault.

"Why are you doing this?!" Dib screamed as he rolled around, "Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

They stared down at him. After a moment Dib was appalled to notice that their shoulders were shaking with laughter.

"Who are you?!" Dib yelled, his voice shrill.

They leaned down right next to Dib's ear, and slowly took their helmet off. Dib heard to sound of them tossing it away. Then, they whispered quietly to him, "Did you _really_ think you could stop me _again?"_

They got to their feet again and stood over Dib, balling their fists together.

Dib's stomach dropped. He stopped his struggling, both from the fact that the plasma was starting to suffocate him and from shock.

No...

It couldn't be.

She raised her fist above her head and proceeded to knock Dib out cold.

 _Tak._

* * *

 _ **((A/N:))** Whooaaa! Bet you guys didn't see that coming ;)_

 _I'm just kidding. I know for a fact that **Dib07** had the whole Tak thing figured out like a bazillion chapters ago. Kudos for them for leaving their guess ;) and if anyone else happened to make the prediction correctly, then kudos to you, too!  
_

 _I'm officially on summer vacation! So hopefully, work doesn't keep me too busy so that I can spend more of my time working on this! Yay!_

 _I hope that despite the predictable plot twist, you guys still found the chapter enjoyable! Until next time, please review, and thank you so much for reading!_


	16. Evaluation

His ears were ringing, and the world came back to him slowly.

But when Dib's eyes focused on the pink ceiling above him, it all came rushing back to him.

 _Tak._

He sat straight up without hesitation and immediately regretted it.

He was sore. His head hurt and his legs hurt and his arms were bruised. He was pretty sure his nose was still broken.

But Dib forgot all about that when he noticed the hushed whispers ringing about the room.

Dib looked to his right to find a dozen or so Resisty members. They all spoke lowly amongst each other; seemingly about something serious. None of them seemed to notice that he was awake at first, but it was only a moment before Lard Nar was crossing over to him with a look of relief on his face.

They were in a small room. No bigger than 50 square feet.

Dib supposed it was probably a jail cell

It was just a square. There was a bench along one wall, and a mirror covering the opposite. There was no sign of a door anywhere. Nothing _too_ out of the ordinary, he supposed, except the door thing.

But what particularly put Dib off about the room was that everything was _pink._ Dib had learned to associate the color with certain doom.

That aside, Dib was glad that he at least got to wake up to someone who was happy to see him. It could have been on an operating table, he supposed.

"Dib!" Lard Nar smiled, "Dib, you're awake!"

Dib looked up, taking a moment to gawk at their lonely box. "Where are we?" he asked.

"We're in the Massive," Lard Nar said. He sounded out of breath, for some odd reason. "The Irken flagship."

" _What?"_

"Listen!" Lard Nar snapped. "We don't have much time. We-"

There was a swooshing sound, and Lard Nar hushed up right away. He tried to make himself seem innocent by locking his arms behind his back and looking at the ground with pursed lips, but was failing majorly.

"Hey," a new voice said, "We need the big-headed one."

Dib looked up. There was a hole in the ceiling! And there was an irken guard staring at him through it.

"My head's not big!" Dib protested.

Suddenly, a second face was staring down at him.

 _Zim._

"What is _he_ doing here?" Zim asked, sounding appalled.

"The Tallest said they wanted your friend, too."

"Dib? A _friend_ of the mighty Zim?!" Zim exclaimed, sounding even more appalled. "Disgusting! I would _never_ be friends with a _human! Especially_ Dib!"

"He's not my friend." Dib confirmed.

The guard rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just _come on."_

Dib looked around. He wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to get to the ceiling. But, his problem was solved when the guard lowered a long, metal stick down for him. Dib grabbed on, and he was pulled out.

Once Dib was safely out of the box, the guard immediately attached a pair of handcuffs around his wrists, and then took to closing the cell door (a circular silver hatch with a handle on top). Dib wondered when he'd see the Resisty again, if ever. Because Dib had a feeling that he and Zim had reached the end of the line.

The guard stood up again (He was only a few inches taller than Dib himself, but that seemed to be reasonably tall for an irken). He took Zim and Dib each by a shoulder and gave them each a strong shove. "Let's go," he ordered.

And off they went, through the corridors of the Massive.

It was the last place Dib had ever expected himself to be. He'd always envisioned Zim strewn across an autopsy table at his mercy, or himself at the foot of Zim's throne. Never in a million years had he envisioned being at the mercy of Zim's superiors with Zim himself _._

Dib regretted following Zim.

He wondered how things would have gone had he not been so _nosy_ for two seconds.

He would still be on Earth.

Zim would have died at the ceremony.

And that would have been it.

Instead, he had fought again and again to get home to Earth once more, only for it to be _ripped_ away at the last second.

It would have been perfect, too.

Zim was a war prisoner, and Dib had been in cahoots with an alien resistance.

But that was all screwed up.

Instead, Zim was incredibly angry with him for breaking a deal that Dib had never expected to last so long, their past enemy had totally beaten them into the ground, and Dib thought it was probably safe to assume that they had reserved themselves a spot on the irken version of death row.

He'd been _so_ close to going home. _So_ close to having everything _finally_ go his way.

But then it was all snatched from him once again, and along with it, so did the universe's potential freedom.

 _This is seriously messed up_ , Dib thought, scanning the walls as they began to snake their way through the labyrinth of corridors that was the Massive.

The Massive was impressive, Dib had to say. Not that he thought it wouldn't be. It was sleek. The floors shined and the walls sparkled. The hallways were lit dimly enough to be ominous, but were lit brightly enough to be efficient. Everyone they passed seemed to be on a mission. It was so orderly. It reminded Dib of Irk, but somehow _fancier._ And as they passed one of the ship's many big windows, it was brought to Dib's attention that their massive mothership was being escorted by hundreds of _smaller_ ships, each of which rivaling whatever creative alien creations Dib had seen in movies. It was marvelous, the way all those ships drifted silently through the void, the white stars glimmering behind them.

Once Dib had gotten an eyeful, his gaze shifted over to Zim, who was in the middle of giving their guard a big speech about how amazing he was and about their journey. Dib had been tuning most of it out, but he'd heard enough to know that Zim was avoiding the parts about the bounty-hunter.

"And then despite my fighting, they threw me in their pitiful prison! Pah! Can you believe that!? Of course, escaping was _too easy_ , because nothing is too hard for Zim! Nothing! Just wait until the Tallest hear about what they did! They'll kill all those Vortian menaces at once! Hah!"

Dib tuned him out again.

He wondered how Zim did it.

How he denied everything so well.

Zim was a great, big mystery. That's what Dib had learned.

This was the first time Dib had seen Zim in a long time. Well, the first time he'd seen Zim when they weren't fleeing for their lives in a long time.

Dib took a long moment to look his enemy over.

He looked _tired._

There were deep, dark circles under his eyes, which baffled Dib, because he didn't even think Zim could suffer from a lack of sleep. Dib figured that the irken was probably suffering from a different type of exhaustion. But that was beside the point. His weariness was still impossible to miss.

Zim's face was covered in scratches. There was dried dirt smeared on his cheek. It was so old, that it was impossible to miss the way that it had caked itself into the barely existent crevices on his face.

Dib didn't fail to notice that even though Zim kept his antennae perked (meaning he was happy), they still looked stiff and tired. They just didn't have the bounciness to them that they usually did.

There was a limp in Zim's usual overly confident stride.

Was that vomit on his uniform?

But Dib saved the gun-wound for the grand finale. Slowly, Dib let his eyes graze Zim's left shoulder, and he almost winced just looking at it.

There was a chunk missing in Zim's shoulder where he had been shot. The wound had healed just fine - it didn't look like anything was wrong - but it was still horrendous to look at.

A hole had been torn in his uniform from the impact, and it displayed the whole shebang. The wound began under Zim's arm-pit, and stretched all the way up to the top of his shoulder. It wasn't bleeding anymore - that would be bad - but there was dried blood that had never been cleaned up, encasing the wound in a gross-looking scab and staining his shirt. Around the edges of the wound, Zim's green skin had faded into a brilliant shade of plum. It was disgusting.

Finally, Dib managed to tear away his prying eyes. He didn't really want to look at it anymore. It made him feel squeamish.

Instead, he decided to continue with the sight-seeing.

The Massive was such a classic-looking alien mother-ship, Dib almost thought he'd been in a movie the entire time. It was quiet. Everyone was busy. Everyone had a job. The engine emitted a low humming sound that created a false sense of intoxicating serenity, and the dim, purple lights did nothing to help that mood. It was cliche, but at the same time, it was a whole, unique experience that he would never have been able to think of on his own.

Dib began to feel nervous when he realized how long they'd been walking.

Every now and then they would pass through some doors or enter a new corridor, but as they continued onward through the beautifully crafted halls, Dib got more of a taste of how _massive_ the massive was. It was baffling.

Dib knew they were getting closer when the doors they passed through had a code, or when the guard had to scan his finger in order to enter a new corridor. Dib noticed that as they carried on, the little security droids, which there were several of in each hallway, were becoming more frequent. As they pressed on, they saw less and less people, and the doors became thicker and thicker.

Finally, they approached the biggest door that Dib had seen yet. It was silver, with a glowing panel on its side. As they got closer, the guard crossed to it and entered what looked like a complicated passcode. Then, when the guard returned to his post at Zim and Dib's shoulders, he quietly whispered, "Get ready."

The door opened slowly, and bright light poured into the dimly lit hallway. Dib had to shield his eyes. When he looked up again, he found none other than the Tallest in the middle of the room before him, grinning at he and Zim.

The guard pushed them in.

The room was circular, and many irkens, sitting at many computers, lined the walls. The path that Zim and Dib stood on led to a platform in the middle of the room, where the Almighty Tallest stood, waiting. Dib noticed Tak behind them, standing quietly with her hands behind her back. She met Dib's gaze, and her eyes narrowed. Dib looked away.

"Well," Tallest Red began, "Look who decided to pay us a visit!"

"Finally!" Tallest Purple added.

"My Tallest!" Zim gasped, taking a few steps forward. "You will not _believe_ the things that this human has put me through! I request that you terminate him at once!"

The guard hurried up behind Zim and pushed him down to his knees. Dib didn't need to be asked to do the same.

Red's smile widened. "All in good time, Zim, all in good time."

Zim didn't say anything to that. Dib couldn't see his facial expression, as Zim was still a few feet ahead of him, but it was impossible to miss the way Zim's antennae cocked. Tallest Purple couldn't seem to contain himself, as he busted out laughing.

"Look how confused he looks!"

Whatever was happening must not have been much of a secret, because Tallest Red joined in on the fun. "Oh man, even in the face of death, Zim really is _dumb."_

"My Tallest?" Zim began, the confidence in his voice not fading, "What is it that you mean?"

"Oh!" Purple exclaimed, lacing his fingers together and looking at Dib, "And his little human friend."

"Pathetic!"

Together, they took a moment to laugh. When they stopped, Red wiped a tear from his eyes. "Oh man, I have been waiting for this moment for _so_ long."

"Me too!" Purple said.

Dib could feel the mood in the room going sinister. He'd never been very perceptive of the emotions of others, but it was impossible not to notice Zim stiffening as the excitement dripped from the Tallest's lips.

"Y-yes!" Zim chimed in, "I'm also thrilled to be continuing my hard work on Earth," he waited for a moment for their approval, but when they stayed quiet he quietly added, "my Tallest."

That broke them. They busted out into laughter again, and Zim froze. He chuckled nervously. "Yes, yes, a master of comedy, Zim is…what did I say?"

"He thinks-haha-he thinks that-hahaha-he-" Tallest Red began. However, he couldn't finish, as he was laughing too hard.

"He thinks that he's going _back to Earth!_ " Purple managed to finish the sentence for his colleague (brother? Dib wasn't sure) before they were both struck with another bout of laughter.

They had the kind of giggles that left you breathless. The kind that made your stomach hurt so bad that you could feel a six-pack coming on. Zim seemed hopelessly confused, giggling nervously. Or maybe he was just trying to make himself look better. Dib wondered if Zim realized he was laughing at himself. He desperately wanted to scream at Zim to open his eyes and realize what was going on, but he knew that this would not do anyone any good. He wouldn't be surprised if Zim actually knew, but was simply too afraid to admit it to himself.

"Okay," Red said, pulling himself together. "Okay, let's do this."

"Sissix!" Purple ordered as he took a deep breath. "Send out a transmission to the Master Control Brain!"

All the irken technicians, who had been working diligently up to that point, froze. None of them spoke, but they all seemed to share glances that said both " _Front row seats!"_

"Yes, my Tallest," One of the technicians finally said. She looked a bit winded that she'd been put to the job, but quickly got to pressing buttons. Slowly, a screen emerged from the ceiling. She pressed a few more buttons. "Sending out a transmission to the Master Control Brain now."

She pressed a button, and the screen whirred to life. After a moment, the word " _TRANSMITTING"_ began to blink on the screen.

"You're not going back to Earth, Zim." Red finally said coldly. Dib missed Zim's reaction, but the irken sat a little too still to be considered normal.

The phone emoticon on the screen began to morph into something else, and everyone in the room switched their attention from Zim to the screen as it finished turning itself into two pink, narrow eyes rather than the picture of the Control Brain Dib had been expecting.

The Control Brain had downloaded his consciousness into the room.

"Whoa," Dib muttered under his breath.

The Control Brain took in the scene.

"Ah!" Tallest Red began. He had gone from a laughing mode to regal alien politician mode in about thirty seconds. "Master Control Brain! It's a pleasure to get to see you again."

"Yes!" Purple exclaimed. "Very pleasurable!"

"Yes," the Brain agreed, "and such a wonderful occasion…"

He shifted his gaze to Tak, who had moved to the side while the Tallest spoke with their superior. He hadn't noticed that she'd moved. In fact, he'd mostly forgotten she was there at all.

"Irken Tak," the Brain began.

She shifted nervously in her place, but despite that, showed no emotion. She met the Brain's gaze without hesitation. Her posture remained perfect. Her weight did not shift from leg to leg. She was cunning and clever. She was loyal and unhesitant. She was lethal. She was the perfect soldier.

"It appears you have completed your side of the bargain," the Brain continued. He looked to Zim and Dib, and his eyes landed on Zim's shoulder. A mechanical arm emerged from the ceiling next to him, and reached down to touch the injury. Zim's eyes widened, and he flinched away.

"What's this?" the Brain asked, turning back to Tak.

Tak was silent.

"Irken Tak," the Brain began, "our agreement was that you _find_ the missing fugitives, not kill them."

He turned back to Zim and observed the scab. He silently admired it. A drop of sweat rolled down Zim's forehead. A mechanical finger brushed against the healing skin, and Zim leaned away. The brain sighed, which Dib thought was dumb, because the Brain was a robot.

"Though it _was_ a magnificent shot," the Brain finally concluded.

The mechanical arm retracted into the ceiling.

"Well done, Irken Tak," the Brain praised, "you will be cleared of your crimes, and your sentencing on planet Devastis will be revoked. Please see Brain 618 for your newest assignment. Once we're done here, of course."

Tak looked like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She somehow stood taller than she had been standing before, and she seemed to relax a bit.

"Now, for you," the Brain narrowed his eyes as he turned his attention to the main attraction; Zim.

The Tallest moved to the side so that Tak stood just behind them.

Dib felt like the Brain had been waiting a long time for what he was about to do. He scanned Zim over for a long moment before he finally said something; "Irken Zim, you have posed a threat to the irken empire for the duration of your life. You are overzealous, unreasonably nihilistic, and irrational. As the longer we wait increases the chance of another accident involving you and your destructive personality, your Existence Evaluation will take place here and now."

At once, Dib felt the mood the room change drastically. A dark feeling loomed in the air; a strange combination of both overwhelming joy and overwhelming despair.

Zim visibly stiffened. He looked at the ground, and Dib saw his breathing get faster, his chest constricting too much with every breath. His antennae were limp, and Dib could see the tremors in his little hands, which he was wringing in his lap.

Zim had seen this coming. He was just too afraid to admit it to himself. Dib knew that. He'd known that from the moment he'd first spoken with Zim about leaving Irk.

"I've seen it all before." the Brain told Zim. "I've seen what you've done. _You_ killed Tallest Miyuki. _You_ killed Tallest Spork. _You single-handedly ruined Impending Doom One."_

Dib knew Zim was a murderer, but he'd never known that Zim had committed _regicide_ , and _twice_ at that. His jaw hung open in shock.

"And that's only the beginning! Have you _no_ guilt for your actions?" the Brain asked.

"Zim…" Zim searched for his words and met the Brain's eyes. "Zim is an Invader! He feels no guilt! Mercy is for the _weak!_ "

The Brain pondered this for a moment, and Zim stared up at him, breathing sharply. His arms were visibly trembling.

Dib really couldn't tell if Zim meant it, or if he said it because he thought that was what the Brain would want to hear.

" _Come forward."_ the Brain ordered. There was an edge to his voice that hadn't been there before.

Zim exhaled, and he got to his feet. He stepped up onto the platform in the middle of the room. When he got to the middle, he stopped, and looked up at the Brain again. Dib wished he could see the Irken's face. Telling from the rest of his body, Zim was still confident. He stood tall, and while his antennae still hung low, they did not hang off of his head like they had been before.

How Zim managed to muster up the courage for situations like that would always elude Dib. Just a second ago Zim had been shivering like he had hypothermia. He was either putting up a good show or found his second wind.

"Irken Zim," the Brain began, "y-

" _Invader Zim."_

The room went silent.

The Brain said it uncharacteristically quiet: " _Excuse me?"_

"I am," Zim paused. " _Invader_ Zim."

Dib looked at the Tallest. They looked thrilled. Behind them, Tak's eyes were wide in a way that said: " _I cannot believe him."_

All the technicians along the walls had stopped working. It was painfully obvious that they'd been listening to the whole thing.

Dib returned his attention to Zim, who still stood tall. His shackled hands were balled into tiny, shaking balls. His shoulders were hunched, but he still stared up at the Brains with sincerity in his eyes.

" _Irken Zim,"_ the Brain started again, " _For your heinous crimes of regicide, destruction of government property, the endangerment of irken citizens, murder, changing your own status, et cetera, you are to be erased."_

Dib had never seen someone's soul leave their body, but he considered changing that fact about himself when he saw the way Zim reacted after hearing what the Brain said.

His breathing went uneven. He was breathing too fast, too hard. It sounded painful.

Zim fell to his knees, shaking uncontrollably. A trembling hand grabbed his chest, and for an honest second Dib thought he was having a heart attack.

"Please," the Brain said, turning to the Tallest. "Set a course to Irk so that Irken Zim may be erased properly. After that, swing by planet Vort. They will be ready for the resistance." the Brain paused, glancing to Dib. "And do what you like with the Human."

There it was.

That was about what Dib was expecting.

His stomach didn't drop. Instead, it sank slowly as Dib replayed the words over and over in his mind.

The picture disappeared from the screen without another word, and the screen retreated into the ceiling.

"Yes!" Purple exclaimed as soon as he was sure the Brain was gone.

"Oh wow, this is the best thing _ever._ " Red followed.

"Woo! Alright, you!" Purple pointed to the guard who'd escorted them there. He stood taller upon being noticed. "Take Zim to his cell! And-and you!" he pointed to Tak. "Watch the human or whatever. Just for a hot minute."

The guard hopped straight to his task, dashing over to Zim, who still sat in a crumpled heap on the floor, his arms wrapped around his stomach like he might vomit. Tak strolled over to Dib and took her place right behind him.

"Did you see the _look on his face?"_ Purple sounded elated.

"I can't believe this is finally happening!"

"High five!"

The Tallest gave each-other an enthusiastic high-five, shouting in celebration as they did so. Dib figured they needed a minute to calm down, so he looked back at Zim, who was in the middle of shakily getting to his feet. His guard was giving him a pitied look, which Dib knew would have made Zim angry if he were paying any attention to that sort of thing.

He could hear Zim muttering to the guard: "So, how long is the flight back to Earth?"

The guard did not answer.

Instead, he silently directed Zim to the door.

When the irken turned around, Dib almost felt a pang of sympathy for him.

Zim skin had gone from its usual bright green to an ugly, ashen gray, and the edges of his mouth were pulled into a sheepish smile that turned downward ever so slightly at the edges. His eyes were glassy and wet. He looked hysterical.

He didn't meet Dib's eyes as he went past.

He just kept asking the guard stupid questions.

"Do you think...do you think the Tallest will upgrade my equipment? I'd better start formulating my next plan to decimate the Earth, right?"

Zim never stopped.

He would do anything to keep the imaginary wall of truth standing, Dib had learned. Now it seemed that the wall had crumbled into dust, and his questions were merely his attempt at pathetically scrambling to put the blocks back together.

"Such a pity," he heard Tak murmur.

Dib turned around to look at her. "Why did you do this?" he asked.

Her eyes narrowed.

It was kind of a stupid question. Dib knew why she did it. She was mad at them for foiling her plan on Earth and saw the opportunity to make herself look good, and took it. Simple as that.

"Well you see, Dib." she sighed. "I don't have the best reputation, either."

Dib paused. "...Huh?"

She continued, leaning down so that she was level with him while he kneeled obediently. "I'm a free-thinker, Dib. I make things for myself when things don't go my way. When I don't like my job, I carry myself somewhere new. You know," she looked down at her uniform, "most irkens don't wear purple."

Was she spilling her tragic backstory on him?

"Of course, the brains do not like this, oh no they don't. I'm lucky I wasn't standing on that stage with you. So, you see, when I saw _you_ on that stage," she paused and met his gaze. "I _knew_ that it was _my_ chance to live with a clean slate, so that I could finally make my way back up into the elite forces. I offered myself up to find you. I swore on my _life._ Why they would entrust a service-drone? I don't know. Maybe they thought I would just die. Another defective out of their hair. But they're _fools._ They're _idiots._ However, I don't mind so much. Because guess what, Dib?"

Her gaze was intense and passionate. A fire burned behind her eyes, brighter and brighter as she continued on with her explanation.

"I _cleaned_ my slate. I will have a new job and a new life. I will get the _respect_ that I so deserve. The _respect_ that Zim never deserved! He was lied to! His life is a phony one. He is no invader. He never was! The brains have wanted him gone since the moment he was born. And now I will watch Zim _die_ knowing that it is _my_ accomplishment. I will watch _you_ die knowing that I finally have a _reputable place in this empire_."

She stood back up without another word, watching the Tallest. Dib faced forward again, staring down at the ground, his eyebrows furrowed together.

Okay, that hadn't been exactly what he'd expected. He'd expected Tak to give some spiel about how Zim was scum and deserved it for ruining her life or something along those lines. Actually, it was some of that, but a lot of it was also her trying to _save her own life._

Those irkens, man.

It was all so unfair.

Dib had suspected that Zim's mission was a fake. It made too much sense. But now, knowing that someone as cunning and clever as Tak had been cheated of her status, it almost made him sick.

There was never space for mercy.

Speaking of which…

Dib tuned back into the Tallest, who he'd been heavily ignoring for the majority of the time. They were very juvenile, even to the Earth juvenile.

They were in the middle of bickering about Dib when he tuned back in.

"We could put him in the donut machine," Red suggested, picking at his claws. He was more fumbling with them, actually. The Tallest had no thumbs. Neither of them did. It was weird.

"Human flavored donuts?" Purple scoffed. "No thanks. _I_ say we throw him out of the airlock."

"We've done that before!"

"Hm. You're right. Okay, how about we toss him down the garbage chute and _then_ throw him out the airlock."

Dib frowned. He wanted to tune them out again.

Red pondered the offer for a moment. "Okay, sure. But only if we use the garbage compactor!"

"Then I get to pull the lever!"

"Deal!"

The both turned to Dib, something evil resonating in their smiles. Dib began to sweat profusely.

"Um-I-is that happening...now?" Dib gulped and let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, yeah!" Purple said, grabbing at him only for Dib to flinch away.

Dib hopped to his feet, turned on his heel, and ran. He couldn't die! He refused to die!

"Hey!" he heard Purple call after him.

"Stop him!" Red ordered.

Stumbling over his own feet, Dib ran through the open door and into a long, pink hallway. He tripped and fumbled, adrenaline taking over his body.

Once he'd caught his balance, Dib craned his neck to look over his shoulder. Much to his dismay, he discovered Tak chasing him from only a few feet behind him, with several other guards at her side. Dib squealed, which wasn't something he'd be proud of later on. But he couldn't die! No! He wasn't ready to die!

Dib ran as fast as his legs could take him. But it wasn't fast enough, because only a moment later Dib felt two tiny hands firmly grasp his shoulders.

He fought them. He wrangled and fought and tried to push them away, screaming at the hands to let him go. He couldn't die.

Dib hadn't realized he'd been keeping his eyes closed, because when he opened them he was marveled to find himself looking down on Tak and the other guards, who tried desperately to reach him from the ground.

He was suspended in the air! Even better, someone was pulling him up and away from his captors, who at the last second remembered their spider-legs, and just barely missed grabbing Dib again before he was pulled into the ceiling and replaced with a tile.

Oh god.

He almost died.

Dib closed his eyes and took deep breaths.

He opened them and was relieved to meet Lard Nar's gaze. There were two other Vortians at his side, who smiled warmly when Dib gasped from relief.

"How did you-" Dib began. Lard Nar held up a hand.

"I helped design this ship." Lard Nar explained. He spoke quietly. "Did you really think I wouldn't add a few special tweaks in case I ever found myself locked up in here?" he smirked.

Dib grinned and took in his surroundings. They were in a small tunnel in the ceiling. It was probably the ventilation system. It would have been pitch black if it weren't for the flood lights evenly spaced out about every ten feet or so.

One of the Vortians approached him cautiously, with a plasma blade in their hands. Dib hesitated, but they steadied his hands and gave him a reassuring smile. When he didn't restrain again, they cut his plasma cuffs away. Dib met their eyes to give them a silent 'thank you.'

"Now," Lard Nar continued, "I can get us out of here. We'll have to go to the escape bay...it's not far from here. But we have to be _quiet._ "

Dib nodded.

"Is there anything else you need?" One of the other Vortians, a gray woman, asked.

Dib thought for a moment. He thought about Zim, and how sheepish he'd looked. He'd looked terrified, like he was just barely hanging onto his sanity with a thread.

Zim.

The alien who made him miserable at school.

The alien who he'd followed to Irk.

The alien who he'd made a deal with.

The alien whose mind he'd seen unravel.

The alien who he'd broken a deal with.

Dib met the Vortian woman's gaze.

"No."

* * *

 _((_ _ **A/N:**_ _Hello!_

 _Oh my goodness, hi, hi, hi everyone! Long time no see, right?!_

 _I have had such a crazy and amazing couple of months. I would have loved to continue updates throughout the summer and in the beginning of the school year, but swim team, work, and my junior year of high school simply had me too busy, and I wanted to make sure that the chapter you all received was the best quality. I hope you all understand!_

 _On top of that, I really wanted to thank everyone for your continued support. I've missed a whole lot while I've been gone, and I've been so excited to get back to updating. All your compliments have been a crucial part of this story, and I wouldn't have been able to do this without all of you amazing followers 3 Thank you._

 _And that brings me to my last point._

 _This story is reaching its end._

 _As in, I only have about 3 more chapters planned, give or take._

 _This story has been a huge learning curve for me, and even though it became a several-year project, it was an amazing one. And with it coming to a close, I have a bit of a heavy heart. Again, thank you, everyone, for the support!_

 _Alright, I'll stop with the sappy stuff. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please review, because it really does boost my motivation! Until next time!))_


	17. Countdown

Just like that, freedom was dangling in front of Dib's face like a bone on a string. Again.

He just wished he didn't have the feeling that it would be ripped away. Again.

He tried to stay quiet as possible as he, Lard Nar, and the two other Vortians crawled through the vents. He cringed every time he bumped the wall, and he was so worried about attracting attention that he was turning red from holding his breath.

But they crawled silently onward, managing to remain uninterrupted the entire time. Every now and then they would hear the thuds of feet running in the hallways beyond their ventilation system as irken guards searched frantically for them. But alas, they were never found. Excitement from the idea of finally going homemade Dib's stomach twist itself into knots.

The continued until they reached a dead end; a vent in the wall. Incandescent light leaked through the holes, illuminating their faces. Dib observed how pale Lard Nar looked as he turned around.

"Okay," he began, "This is it. The escape bay is just down the hall. If we make sure the coast is clear, we can make a run for it."

Dib drew in a nervous breath as he watched the two other Vortians share a glance. He nodded.

Up until now, it had all been a downward spiral. Falling and falling until he thought he couldn't get any lower, until he did get lower, and then he believed that he was at his lowest point again. It was all a continuous routine.

But now, Zim felt nothing but numbness.

It was odd.

This was the first time he had let the words get through his thick skull. It was the first time that he accepted it, and the first time he just let the frantically put together lie in his mind fall apart. And he found his reaction a bit underwhelming.

Maybe it was because he'd known the whole time.

Maybe it was because it just felt good to finally stop lying to himself.

Zim wasn't sure.

He just stared blankly at the floor as he was escorted through the corridors back to his cell, so that he could be brought to Irk and killed. He pondered making a move to escape, but he didn't. He felt too helpless.

Zim was ripped from his thoughts as a general came running up to them.

"The Vortians!" he exclaimed, "The Vortians! They escaped!"

Zim felt the guard's grip tighten on his arm.

"What do you need?" the guard asked.

"Put him up. We need all the help we can get. They're in the ventilation system!"

Suddenly, Zim was being shoved up against a wall, his arm being painfully crushed by his body. He felt something warm around his wrist, and an angry mutter from the guard that he better stay put, or else. Then, they were gone.

Zim stumbled back but found himself unable to get more than a few feet away from the wall. Observing his arm, which still ached from the shove, he found that he'd been cuffed to the corridor wall using electric cuffs. Those things really did the empire wonders.

Zim stared blankly at the wall, and then at his arm.

This was his chance.

Maybe if he escaped, the Tallest would remember how useful he was.

He tugged on the wall, trying to pull away.

He yanked his arm furiously, nearly ripping his shoulder out of its socket. In response, he yelped in pain, cradling it until the pain went away. He gazed out a big window across the hall from him, feeling the anxiety rise up into his throat as idea sprang to mind.

He slowly turned back to his arm, his brows turning downward in concentration as his laser beam slid silently out of his PAK. Pursing his lips, he aimed it at the electric cuffs. He drew in a breath but hesitated.

He stared at his hand for a long time. It trembled, and he could feel the coldness of the metal wall from through his glove.

Taking another sharp breath, he squinted his eyes closed and fired. The force of his laser made him stumble back, and the next thing he knew he was on the ground, grimacing. However, he felt no pain.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to observe his hand. It was clean of any injuries, and also free from the wall. The cuffs had short-circuited from the blast, just like he'd hoped. He looked at the wall and found that he had blasted a hole in where his hand had been stuck.

He sighed a breath of relief and lied back down on the ground, his breathing going uneven as his mind thought about a million things per second.

He wanted to lay there for a million years.

But he couldn't.

An alarm sounded, and red, flashing lights began to go off.

Zim slowly stood up, watching the space outside the window slowly go by as the red lights danced on his face.

All he needed to do was make it to the escape bay.

Zim broke off into a sprint.

"Now!" Lard Nar whispered as he punched the vent out of the wall and moved aside so that Dib and the other two Vortians could go first.

As Dib slid out of the ventilation shaft, he blinked at the sudden bright light. His feet hit the ground, and he bolted, just like he'd been instructed to.

He could see it. He could see the escape bay.

There were tears in his eyes.

He felt someone tackle him.

Then, he was on the ground again, grunting as he made impact. He felt everything crashing around him again as the weight of the situation hit him.

Frantically, Dib scrambled to get back to his feet but felt himself being restrained by someone's cold, tiny hands. He cried out for help and demanded to be let go, but with no prevail. Whoever was holding him tightened their grip and shoved his face into the metal floor. They leaned so close to his ear that Dib could feel their breath on his face.

"You lose."

Tak's voice sent a chill down Dib's spine, and the sensation continued all throughout his body into the pit of his stomach as a sense of despair overcame him. He tried to scramble against her one last time but felt himself freeze as the barrel of a gun was pressed against the back of his head.

"You are _not_ ," Tak sat up, and pressed down on Dib harder. "escaping me again!"

"Help!" Dib cried out. He hoped Lard Nar and the others could hear him. He craned against Tak's grip to look in front of him, and saw them far down the hallway. Lard Nar heard his call and looked back with a concerned look in his eyes. Then, the color drained from the Vortian's face, and he continued onwards without Dib.

Dib cried out in despair, his eyes stinging with tears. He was entirely on his own. There was no one there to save him, and there was no one by his side.

"That's right," Tak said, her voice echoing against the walls, "There's no escape for you now. Welcome to the end of the line."

Dib heard her pull slightly on the trigger, and he could feel the heat of the gun preparing to fire. He braced himself, gritting his teeth and trying to struggle against her. However, she was too strong, despite her tiny size. Everything was happening so fast! He couldn't die! This couldn't be it!

"Time to say _goodbye,"_ Dib heard Tak utter between clenched teeth.

But then, the scene was interrupted by the pattering of little feet, and everything stopped. Tak's grip on Dib's head loosened as she noticed who ran by, and he noticed her remove the barrel from his head to point the gun at whoever it was. Dib turned his head and saw a very shaken-looking Zim jogging by.

" _Stop!"_ Tak ordered him.

"Zim!" Dib cried in relief, "Help me!"

Zim stopped, cocking his head. Before he could seem to think of his decision, Tak fired her gun at him, and he ducked out of its way just in time.

She fired again, and again, and again. Zim managed to steer clear of each one and continued his pursuit to the end of the hall.

"Zim!" Dib cried again.

Tak was firing like mad.

Dib was screaming.

Zim was running for his life.

But then, something seemed to go wrong.

Dib could hear Tak pulling the trigger, but nothing was happening.

"What?!" he heard her ask in confusion. She pulled again. And again.

Then, there was an explosion just above him as the Vortian's plasma ray gun malfunctioned.

Dib was sent flying through the air, and when he hit the ground his ears were ringing. But he had no time to be confused. He scrambled to his feet and bolted, trying to gather his confused thoughts.

His mind flew back to when he first met Lard Nar, and he remembered the Vortian saying something about defective barrels in the plasma guns, and Dib felt a wave of gratitude towards Vortians surge through his body.

He could hear Tak screaming in agony behind him, but didn't take the time to look back. There was the sound of irken guards catching up with him, but he didn't take the time to pay them any mind. All Dib did was run.

As Zim made it to the escape bay ahead of him, he pressed a panel alongside the doorway, and the metal door he passed through began to close.

At this point, Dib's side was cramping, but he continued onward. He was so close! His heart was racing, his head pounding, his mind flying, his feet barely keeping up with themselves.

The door was almost closed, and at the last second, Dib ducked down so he could slide under, and it just barely missed crushing him.

Everything around Dib was quiet. He could hear the quiet but steady hum of the ship's engine.

He laid on the ground for a moment, taking a deep breath before sitting up to have a second go on finishing his journey. Zim watched him from only a few feet away.

"Zim!" Dib managed between breaths.

He didn't know what else to say. He felt like whatever it was they'd had had been broken when Zim had been locked away, and that now they were even bigger enemies than before.

A sudden pounding on the door behind him prevented Dib's feelings from being pondered further, however, and Dib realized the severity of their situation. He whirled around, and was relieved to see that all the irken guards were locked out. But for how long?

Dib hopped to his feet and took in the entirety of the room. On the wall behind Zim was where the escape pods should have been had they not been all gone. They were stacked on top of each other like apartment buildings, metal catwalks leading to the higher levels. In their place were closed doors, with a small, circular window in the middle of them to reveal the space just beyond the escape bay.

In the very highest row on the far right, Dib saw the second to last pod (presumably transporting Lard Nar and his friends) take off. That left only one pod for Zim and Dib, as the Resisty had taken all the others after they'd escaped.

Zim whipped around to glare at Dib, seeming to want to claim the pod for himself.

"Zim," Dib breathed heavily, "We've worked together this long, we can do it one last time. We can share."

Zim looked hesitant, but Dib gave him no choice. As the pounding on the door behind them got louder, Dib grabbed Zim by the hand and led him to the metal stairs, which they climbed together, Zim whining at Dib to release him all along the way.

All Dib could hear was the sound of the guards pounding on the door, ordering that they unlock it at that moment! All he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears and the sound of his feet slamming against the metal steps and catwalk. Zim's panicked voice rang in his ears. It occurred to him that he didn't _have_ to bring Zim with him. But for some reason, he didn't care. His grip on Zim was firm, and all the profanities that Zim yelled at him went in one ear and right out the other.

Reaching the highest level of escape pods, Dib stumbled down the catwalk, Zim trailing behind him. As they reached their pod, Dib found a screen attached to the wall next to it. It displayed a big "BEGIN" in blue letters over a lighter blue background.

"Can you set it up?" Dib asked, panting.

Zim gave him a hard glare. "Why should I?"

Dib's jaw dropped. "Are you seriously gonna do this now?! Zim, this is our chance to go home! We can do it together, things will go back to exactly how they were before!"

Zim's eyes narrowed.

"Zim," Dib searched for his words, "I know I screwed up, okay?! You can yell at me all you want on the way back to Earth, but for now, _please_ , before I change my mind, will you set up this escape pod so we can finish this _together?"_

Zim didn't say anything for a moment. He stared at Dib for a moment before, without breaking eye contact, reached out to press "begin."

Dib's face broke into a smile. The pod door slid open, revealing a circular pod with seats lining either side and a cockpit at the opposite end.

"Get inside," Zim mumbled, turning toward the screen.

Dib heaved a sigh of relief, the guilt he'd been suppressing melting away. He didn't think he'd hear the last of his betrayal, but he was a step closer to Zim's forgiveness. He just wanted everything to go back to normal, even their constant bickering.

As he stepped into the pod, Dib took a seat in the cockpit, leaning far back into the chair with a sigh.

After a quick moment, he heard Zim step inside. He spun around in the chair to watch Zim take a seat next to him.

"All we need to do is confirm the launch from the inside, and we'll be on our way."

Dib followed Zim's hand to where it rested on a big, red "launch" button. Dib grinned.

"Do it," Dib said.

They both jumped when the sound of microphone feedback suddenly rang around the escape bay.

"Stop!" someone cried over the ship's speaker. Dib recognized Tallest Red's voice, and he felt his stomach slowly sink. Zim froze.

"Zim," Tallest Red laughed, "What on Irk are you doing?"

Zim didn't say anything. He looked down at his feet, which hovered a few inches above the ground when he sat in the chair.

"Lemme see it," Purple's voice was muffled. When he spoke again, it was more clear. They were obviously sharing some microphone so that they could speak to Zim and Dib over the Massive's intercom. "Zim!" Purple said. "You're not _leaving_ , are you?!"

Red's voice started again. "I think he's leaving!"

"What?!" Purple pretended to sound shocked. "I can't believe he's leaving!"

"Yeah! Zim, you don't wanna stick around?"

Zim didn't move. His hand still rested over the launch button.

"No answer?!" Purple laughed.

"We'll have to convince him," Red suggested, "You want to make us proud, don't you, Zim?"

Dib felt everything stop. He heard Zim draw in a quiet breath.

"Who wouldn't?!" Purple laughed. "Who wouldn't want to make their all-powerful, almighty Tallest proud?!"

They were manipulating him.

"Zim, all you have to do is keep your hands off that red button," Red explained. "All you have to do is stay here instead of run away."

"Zim," Dib whispered, "They'll _kill_ you."

"If you stay, we'll shower you with prizes!" Purple teased. "You'll get everything you've ever wanted! You'll be, like, the greatest Irken ever!"

Zim's antennae perked at this, and Dib knew that he was losing him.

"But if you press that red button," Red began again, "You'll never hear from us again."

Dib reached out to grab Zim's arm. He squeezed it to remind Zim what they'd been through - what the obvious choice was! Zim's gaze only flickered his direction for a short moment before focusing on his hand again. It was trembling now.

"We'll never respond to your calls. We'll never send you supplies. We'll never check in on you. Zim, if you press that button, we'll pretend that you never even existed."

Zim was sheet white. His hands were shaking. His breaths were shallow and quiet. Dib could see the gears turning in his head.

"Think about it," Purple said, "you could either live a terrible life of exile, or be worshipped!"

They were lying right through their teeth. If Zim obeyed them, they would kill him. They would kill Dib. There would be no going home. If Zim pressed the button, then there would at least be a chance to live back on Earth.

"Zim, think about this," Dib said quietly. He wanted Zim to press the button. He wanted Zim to make the choice _himself._

Dib could hear the guards banging on the locked door to the escape bay. If Zim didn't make up his mind, then the would be captured.

"You could be a _hero!_ " Red said. Purple snickered.

Zim swallowed, and Dib's heart skipped a beat as he watched Zim's hand slowly slide off of the red button.

Dib heard the sound of the escape bay door being broken down by the guards, and in an act of instinct, he slammed his own hand down upon the launch button.

The lights in the pod immediately turned off, and the door slammed shut, their only view of the escape bay being a circular window.

" _No!"_ Zim screamed breathlessly, "No!"

The irken spun around in his chair, practically falling out of it so that he could stumble over to the window.

A monitor on the control panel started counting down from ten.

 _10._

Zim began pounding on the door, screaming loudly.

"No! _No!_ "

 _9._

The Tallest were laughing maniacally over the intercom, their muffled voices loud enough to be heard through the closed pod door.

 _8._

Zim started kicking. He was punching the door so hard Dib was sure he would bruise his knuckles. He kept screaming. At that point, he was blubbering nonsense.

"M-my Tallest! What do I do?! I'm sorry! I've failed you! I'm sorry!"

 _7._

Dib wondered where the guards were. Could they cancel the launch? Would they reach the pod in time? All Dib could muster to do was sit and watch Zim throw his frantic tantrum.

 _6._

The sound of an engine whirred to life.

 _5_.

Zim took a step back. Dib thought that maybe he was done, but the alien threw his entire body against the door, obviously wanting nothing more than to just get through it.

 _4._

Zim slid to the ground, cradling himself in his arms. There were tears staining his face.

 _3._

Remaining in a heap on the floor, he reached an arm out to weakly pound on the door again, his chest heaving as he tried to breath.

"My Tallest! I'm sorry!

 _2._

" _I'm sorry, my Tallest! Please!"_

 _1._

The entire pod shook as they were catapulted into space. Zim was knocked over onto his side, and Dib was forced way back in his chair as the G-forces caused it to spin around and around. The engine was loud. Everything was going so fast. It felt like they were going left and right and down and up all at the same time.

As their speed evened, Dib was able to sit back up in his chair. He watched out the back window as the Massive got smaller and smaller as they got farther away.

They were off. Alone. The deed had been done.

His gaze shifted to Zim on the ground, who lay in a crumpled heap, sobbing. He laid there for a while, the sound of his sobbing the only noise besides the quiet engine.

"How could you?"

He said it quietly at first, his voice croaking like a frog. Dib almost couldn't make it out.

"How _could_ you?!" Zim repeated, more clearly that time. He got up to sit on his knees so that he could meet Dib's gaze. His eyes glared daggers so sharp Dib could feel their sting. "What have you done?!"

"Zim, they would've killed you!"

"They _promised!"_ Zim quickly got to his feet. "They _promised_ that I would make them _proud!"_

"Zim, you know they were lying!"

" _That's all I've ever wanted!_ " Zim yelled, crossing over to Dib.

"You would never have-"

"Be _quiet!"_ Zim swiped at Dib's face, and after a moment Dib felt the hot sting of two fresh marks that had been left behind by his claws. "Be _quiet, human!"_

Zim collapsed into the chair next to Dib, his chest heaving. He rested his arms on the armrests, bringing his left hand up to pinch the area between his eyes.

He proceeded to yell a profuse amount of expletives, most of them directed at Dib. Dib listened the whole time, figuring that was probably all Zim wanted him to do. Honestly, Dib just felt lucky to be alive. It was the least he could do. After all, his actions had just changed Zim's life forever.

Slowly, Zim's fit died out until it was just the two of them sitting silently in a dimly lit escape pod, with nothing but blank space surrounding them.

Hours passed without anyone speaking. Zim sat curled up his chair for this time, blankly staring ahead of him, seemingly deep in thought. Dib watched the stars twinkle as they passed by. It never ceased to amaze him.

Not until they could make out the colors of planet Earth in the distance did Zim speak again.

"I'll have to call the Tallest to inform them that I made it safely."

Dib did not try to correct him this time

* * *

 _(( **A/N:** Dang._

 _All we need to do now is figure out what happens when they get back to Earth! The story is almost complete._

 _I have two more chapters planned, but I think I'll post them together so it doesn't go by so slow. Really all that's left now is wrapping things up. Aren't you guys curious what happens to Zim once he gets home? He'll be allll alone. ;) I'm evil._

 _I really hope this chapter didn't seem TOO rushed. I did have a couple really late nights because I wanted to finish it before break was over. And I did. I just hope it doesn't show XD Maybe the chapter seems so weird to me because it's so fast paced? I think this is the only chapter where Zim and Dib are in action the entire time. Things were moving fast, guys!_

 _Anyways, thanks a bunch for reading! I hope everyone had a great New Year! Please review, and I'll see you all next time so we can wrap this up!))_


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